Chelsea: Conte’s firing brings more pessimism to the future

Antonio Conte’s inevitable fate has been sealed in the most untimely way possible. 

Fifty-three days after his last match with Chelsea, Conte’s inevitable departure is finally finalized. The relationship between the manager and his boss Roman Abramovich was never on a happy term since day one, and his departure was a question of when rather than if.

Everyone expected the manager’s departure, but nobody expected him to stay at the office for 53 more days. The remarkable delay of the inevitable saw an ironic situation for both Conte and the club. Conte had to run two preseason sessions as the incumbent manager because Chelsea non-World Cup players had already reported back to training.

Meanwhile, his replacement Maurizio Sarri is still under Napoli’s payroll despite having already been replaced by Carlo Ancelotti because of Chelsea’s reluctance to pay his $11 million release clause.

It was just another twist of another Chelsea summer full of turmoil. The Blues had encountered drama already after their owner Roman Abramovich was denied a work visa, leading to the club’s future being put on limbo. Conte’s present at the training ground at the start of Chelsea’s preseason camp was only the last straw.

Spending the money and firing managers at will is Chelsea’s identity since Abramovich’s takeover. In its heydey, this is the club that broke the British transfer record twice, paid $18 million to invoke Andre Villas-Boas’s release clause and informed Ancelotti of his firing in a corridor at Goodison Park. Those good old days seem to be distant now.

A never-ending cycle of managers

With Sarri and Conte representing an ultimate contrary tactical philosophy, the Blues are expecting a spending spree to build a new squad that fits the incoming manager. The 53-day delay to resolve the contractual agreement makes the rebuild more difficult as Chelsea had been hibernating in the transfer window, until the signing of Jorginho. The early termination of the summer transfer window is the double jeopardy.

During his turbulent two-year stay at Chelsea which remarkably made him the second-longest tenured manager in the past 15 years, Conte had repeatedly criticised the club for lacking ambition. Chelsea hasn’t completed a high profile signing for long enough. Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa, who were signed in 2014, were probably the last world class players in their prime that decided to choose The Blues as the next steps of their careers.

Jose Mourinho’s chaotic departure in 2015 overshadowed the fact that the Blues had a disastrous summer characterized by frantic last-minute signings of Kenedy, Papy Djilobodji, and Michael Hector. The next summer, which was the first at Conte’s helm, should have been another forgettable window hadn’t the manager miraculously found the winning formula.

The luck ran out the next season after the club had a third consecutive underwhelming season and Conte’s patience reached the capacity.

Chelsea keeping Conte as the dead man walking around Cobham Training Center is another sign of the club losing its identity.  A team of Chelsea’s caliber should have signed the cheque for Sarri’s buyout clause without hesitating. The 53-day wait didn’t do any good for either Conte or Sarri, as their overhaul plans waited while the club resolved the mess.

Sarri’s challenge

Sarri will have a mountain to climb in his first season in charge. The Blues have delayed their preseason for a week, and Sarri will have about a week to try to introduce his philosophy to his new players before the team plays its first friendly match against Manchester City on July 23. Four weeks is the time for Sarri to perform a squad overhaul, knowing that the remaining Big Six rivals have completed 11 transfer deals.

Next: EPL Preseason Schedule

Whether the Sarri and Chelsea combination can work or not, they have encountered a rough start. Chelsea has no one to blame but itself, and this only brings more pessimism to its future.