Erik писал(а):http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/08/07/antonio-conte-must-wary-another-chelsea-meltdown/amp/
У кого-нибудь есть доступ в Телеграф? Там на инглише интересная статейка, мол Конте надо думать не о трансферах, а о другом. Только дальше текст обрывается. Хотелось бы почитать, но доступа нет.
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Antonio Conte has had a frustrating summer
Jason Burt
7 AUGUST 2017 • 4:28 PM
There is a saying around Chelsea that sums up the way most of the club’s managers have behaved in the Roman Abramovich years. “If you cry hard enough, you will get the money,” they say. And Antonio Conte has done plenty of crying of late.
It has been a summer of familiar, relentless headlines: of Conte’s discontent, frustration and barely concealed anger over the club’s transfer dealings; of missed targets; lack of spending; lack of numbers.
Conte was at it again after the Community Shield loss, on a penalty shoot-out, to Arsenal when he declined to answer if his squad was ready to challenge in all four competitions. Then, when asked to discuss his strikers, he tersely replied: "I hope in the future to have different questions, than if there is necessity to improve our squad.
"I have replied. My reply is always (this) one, otherwise it means I was telling you a lie. I repeat always the same."
The general perception is that Conte is right: that Chelsea have not done enough and have let him down or have somehow operated behind his back (they have not). It has even been said they have had a “quiet transfer window”.
Quiet? Chelsea have broken their transfer record to bring in striker Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid for an initial £58million fee that could rise to £70million, they have signed Conte’s number one midfield target in Tiemoue Bakayoko for £40million from Monaco and defender Antonio Rudiger from Roma for £30million plus goalkeeper Willy Caballero from Manchester City on a free transfer.
Out have gone Nemanja Matic to Manchester United for up to £40million, Nathan Ake, for £19.3million, and Asmir Begovic, for £10million, to Bournemouth, Bertrand Traore to Lyon for £8.8million, Nathaniel Chalobah to Watford for an initial £5million plus a slew of loans when he could have kept some. That is £140million spent – so far – and £84million recouped, a busy summer by any standards. And there are still more than three weeks of the window to go and other deals expected. Do not be surprised if Chelsea bid for Everton’s Ross Barkley, for example, or Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
True, Chelsea have not landed a number of Conte’s preferred targets – most notably Romelu Lukaku, who went to United, who were prepared to pay the fees - and have hit a wall in their attempts to bring in Alex Sandro from Juventus. Conte thought at the end of last season that he had Virgil Van Dijk from Southampton and wanted Napoli’s Dries Mertens and so on and so on.
It was the same last summer and there has to be some sympathy for the Italian that he has not got the players he wanted, even if some on that wish-list were not realistic.
But that sympathy only goes so far. What, really, has Conte got to complain about before a season when he has also just signed a new contract giving him the highest basic salary ever paid to a Chelsea manager, even if the fact that it was 'only' an improved deal, rather than extended one, gave a clear indication that all is not well.
Chelsea have supported Conte. Abramovich was there last autumn when things were rocky, while the exile of Diego Costa, via a text message that will end up costing the club millions, was an issue between player and manager and not the club. It is an episode that may ultimately count against Conte but it was his decision to leave Costa and Nemanja Matic out of the squad he took on pre-season tour. It was also his call to allow the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek to go on loan and fail to give Chalobah any assurances he would play more this season.
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It was Conte's decision to leave Diego Costa at home while his team went on their pre-season tour
It was Conte's decision to leave Diego Costa at home while his team went on their pre-season tour CREDIT: PA
There is a fundamental problem at Chelsea that has to be overcome. The club have backed Conte, a brilliant manager, more than he has acknowledged and he has less to complain about than he is making out. But there is no denying that, as with all of his predecessors, he feels an obligation to win – and win now. It is a culture that Chelsea have created and although it has proved successful on the pitch they need their managers to think less short-term.
Conte is acutely aware of what happened to Jose Mourinho two seasons ago when, having won the Premier League, he followed it up with a campaign so disastrous and – more importantly – fractious that he was sacked by December.
Conte has already spoken about wanting to avoid a “Mourinho season” but to do that, also, he needs not just to buy more players and be successful but maybe not make the same mistakes as his predecessor. And not react as he did.
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Conte wants to avoid a "Mourinho season"
Conte wants to avoid a "Mourinho season" CREDIT: EPA
Hopefully Chelsea are talking to Conte about this. About how he does not actually have to win the league again this season or the Champions League. Chelsea do not expect that although they do expect him to be competitive across the board.
So here is a word of advice for Conte. He needs to avoid a sense of destruction and conflict. Maybe, at his pre-match press conference this week, ahead of the season’s opener against Burnley, it is time to take a different tack.
It is time to talk about how much he cares about the club and the job he is doing and that he has a longer-term plan than to simply ask for more. He may be surprised at the reaction.
Arsene Wenger's 'socialist model' has its problems
Much was made of the number of players on Arsenal’s books listed on the back of the programme for the Community Shield match – especially when it was compared to Chelsea’s.
Frank Lampard even used it to highlight the difference in depth – 41 for Arsenal and just 24 by Chelsea. Not just that but Arsenal’s squad included at least 30 with significant first-team experience.
Of course that is too many and Arsene Wenger acknowledged the problem afterwards. But as he spoke my mind whirred back to a briefing he gave in January 2013 when he spoke approvingly of the “more socialist model” of pay structure at the club where the gap between the highest-paid and lowest is narrower than at others.
Unfortunately it also means it is not just harder to attract big names and keep them happy but, even more so, difficult to shift those who are in the squad but not in the team - as the list showed.[/spoiler]
