Antonio Conte losing Chelsea players’ faith as Blues boss feels pressure after 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth
Some players believe Conte's preparation wasn't good enough and are starting to doubt his ability to turn things around
Sponsored by
ANTONIO CONTE is in real danger of alienating himself at Chelsea — from above and below.
Boss Conte is already at odds with owner Roman Abramovich and the board over transfer spending and his man-management.
And now, after a calamitous shock 3-0 home defeat by Bournemouth, the players who performed so badly are starting to turn on their coach.
Some have complained the Italian’s normally thorough preparations for the game were sadly lacking this week.
And that transfer deadline day overshadowed a game the Blues were expected to win but dare not lose.
The main gripe is Conte trained the day before the game with Michy Batshuayi as striker.
But the much put-upon front man did not even make it to the team hotel the night before the game — as he had been given permission to travel to Germany to finalise a loan move to Borussia Dortmund.
The gap against the Cherries was filled by 5ft 7in Eden Hazard the next day.
CONT GO ON Antonio Conte's odds to be sacked are slashed
Some players felt that they had not trained enough with new midfielder Ross Barkley in the side and as a result the team was unbalanced.
Barkley is only just fit after six months out injured and is yet to be fully programmed into the Conte way of playing.
Chelsea transfer news
He got his first start against Bournemouth but was back on the bench after 54 minutes, having looked understandably rusty and equally baffled by his manager’s constant bellowing from the touchline.
Footballers moan all the time but at the moment, it is more pertinent given the air of gloom hanging over the club.
There is a belief a combination of highly-political comments by the manager and the continual claim the squad cannot cope is rubbing off on the players and making them feel fatigued.
Chelsea’s players had a day off yesterday when many of their fans would argue they had the night off before as well.
Wednesday’s home defeat is no ordinary setback. It is one that could turn out to be a watershed moment in the deteriorating relationship between manager and club. One from which there may be no return.
Chelsea is a pantomime club, underlined by Conte’s claims he has nothing to do with transfers, while the view from upstairs is, ‘Oh yes he does’.
Most Read In Sport
That is just one of the myriad differences dividing the Premier League champions, with the prospect of a seismic break up in the summer now looming.
Conte has also put ground between himself and billionaire Abramovich over his handling of defender David Luiz.
The Blues’ determined head coach is a stern, hard worker.
Luiz, currently injured, is a fuzzy-haired goofball who was still clowning around in the seats behind the home team dugout on Wednesday playing practical jokes on a steward.
The two do not mix well but the problem for Conte is Abramovich has a soft spot for his Brazilian — and has not taken kindly to him being sidelined.
Luiz is now behind Andreas Christensen in the pecking order and reduced to cameo roles.
Abramovich was at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday to help mark his club’s anti-Semitism match and watched the players he has paid a hefty amount of money for crumble before him.
Conte spent £190m last summer to break the club transfer record for Alvaro Morata, to sign Danny Drinkwater, Davide Zappacosta and Germany international Antonio Rudiger.
When the squad reports back today ahead of Monday’s trip to Watford, he will also have his three new January buys, Barkley, Olivier Giroud and left-back Emerson Palmieri on the rosta.
It is as if no amount of spending is ever enough for Conte. And his constant sideswipes and habit of passing all responsibility upstairs is being seriously noted.
Later this month, Chelsea face Barcelona in the Champions League last 16.
Barca are favourites to go through but should Chelsea be humbled the way they were against Bournemouth, then Conte could get his marching orders sooner rather than later.