Source: These Football Times
By Matt Gault
Many players have the opportunity to work with tactical masters and gold medal coaches at a certain stage of their careers, but only a few of the most dedicated people are qualified to become the "disciples" of these famous coaches. Antonio Conte, who played football, not only made a name for himself at Juventus, but also voluntarily accepted the influence of successive managers on his own implementation. Conte was a blue-collar midfielder who could cover both of the stadium's penalty areas, and he had a pair of blue eyes that were the envy of movie stars, through which he was always capturing all kinds of information that went far beyond the game itself... It can be said that Conte has received a very high level of coaching "preparatory education" since he was a player, which is enough to make other peers deeply jealous.
Conte, who led Chelsea all the way in the Premier League, is the hottest manager in football today
Trapattoni, Lippi, Sacchi and Ancelotti are four highly respected Italian coaches, and Conte was fortunate to learn a lot from them. Conte greatly appreciates these teachers, but from another point of view, this sense of appreciation is also mutually existent. In the eyes of the coach, Conte is also a natural leader, has a strong voice in the dressing room, and can also put the interests of the team first - this virtue is also the most valued by all coaches. It was because of this mutual appreciation that Conte gained the trust of the team's successive managers, who played for Juventus in midfield for more than 10 years, and finally got himself the legendary "Ultimate Coaching Handbook"...
Conte's philosophy of football was born in this environment. As Chelsea's active manager, Conte has also built the team into an efficient "winning machine" in a short period of time. In the eyes of the Italians, you are either a member of the team or an enemy of the team, and there is never a so-called "centrist". That's what he thought when he was a player; now as a coach, his thinking hasn't changed, and in a sense, that ideology has really made Conte what he is today. Although he brought about a seismic change for Stamford Bridge soon after taking office, it is still difficult for some experts to admit that Conte is a genius. Taking a step back, let's say that everything Conte has achieved today is the result of his years of careful study and perseverance. This conclusion can be accepted by everyone.
Conte - Learning player
In 1991, Conte signed with Juventus. It was an era dominated by the Zebras' sworn enemy, AC Milan, in Italian football, and it was also a heyday of Italian football. The great mentor of the tactical revolution, Sacchi, single-handedly helped Italian football smash the chain of "chain defense", leading AC Milan to create two consecutive titles in the European Champions Cup. The 1990 World Cup was also played in Italy, and the entire Apennine Peninsula had high hopes for their national team, and in the end the "Blue Army" finished the event with a third place.
While Juventus was still in the adjustment period, Conte joined the team. The glory created by the legendary French superstar Platini has long been in history, and now it is the first year that Trapattoni has taken over the team's coaching whip. The last time Juve dominated Serie A was in 1986, and since then AC Milan, Napoli and Inter Milan have all tasted the taste of winning the title.
From 1985 to 1991, Conte played for his hometown club, Lecce
When he first started working together, Trapattoni saw a shadow of his own year in Conte. Between 1991 and 1994, although the two failed to add even one Serie A title to Juve, that period was crucial to Conte's personal development. Leaving a group of relatively weak Lecce teammates, the 21-year-old Conte stood up as soon as he stepped into the Juve training ground, because he found that the teammates around him were all his former idols - Tacconi, Schillacci, Robert Baggio...
From the beginning, Conte was so overwhelmed by these household star teammates that he didn't know how to prove his worth. 'There's the great Trappatoni, there's Robert Baggio, I'm so excited, I'm both a player and a fan at the same time.' Conte later admitted. After the training of Facetti and Mazzoni at Lecce, Conte gradually became the cornerstone of the team, but now this cornerstone has been moved to the cold Estadio del Alp (before being renovated in 2006, it was considered one of the most boring and deserted home stadiums of European giants). For Conte, from the beginning of joining Juve, he entered a learning process. Although he is also worried deeply about the setbacks in his new club, he also knows why Juventus signed him.
Played well at Lecce club Conte, playing for the team in 99 games before being picked up by Juventus
Two of Lecce's youth coaches, Kaus and Mugo, have played a major role in Conte's growth, not only developing Conte into a qualified professional player, but also making him a respectable person. In addition, Conte's parenting from an early age is also very strict. His parents were Cosimino and Ade, and Conte had two brothers, Gianluca and Daniel. His father, Cosimino, was a well-known football coach in Lecce, but his first lesson about football was that he asked his sons to "do their homework and then play football."
In school, Conte listened carefully and his academic performance has been good. After school, he would run out into the streets to play football, and sometimes the priests would allow Conte and his friends to play in the backyard of the church — but the premise was "finishing the homework first". When I was very young, the keywords "work" and "focus" were deeply implanted in my brain. Whether at home, at school or at club Lecce, Conte idolizes himself as role models to learn from. He wants to imitate these people and achieve his ultimate goal - to become a professional player!
So when he first joined Juventus, Conte was intimidated by the idols of yesteryear who greeted him in the dressing room. No matter how skilled they are, when they run to their new clubs, most young players are used to finding an old comrade to take them with them. In conte's case, that person is Trapattoni. Conte comes from Lecce, the southern region of Italy, and is located right on the heel of the "boots". The climate and living habits there are significantly different from Turin in the north. After coming to Turin, Conte had to overcome not only the cold climate, but also the embarrassment of being overwhelmed – he had dreamed more than once of being able to return to the sunny beaches of his hometown of Lecce. Adapting to a new environment is not easy, what if you messed up your debut at your new owner after wearing Juve's famous black and white strip jersey? Conte's start was a terrible start.
With the help of the famous coach Trapattoni, Conte (third from the left in the second row) gradually gained a foothold at Juve
At that time, on the training ground, Trapattoni would pay attention to Conte from time to time. Although the player is still unable to let go, he has shown a lot of potential. He's slightly rough, but definitely worth polishing. Soon after, Trapattoni gave Conte a chance to start, a warm-up match against Bayern Munich. The match was fierce and conservative, and as a result, the mistake caused by Conte's return pass to Tacony became a turning point in the game, and Bayern took the opportunity to score a goal and push Conte to the bottom.
At the Club Juventus, nothing can escape the eyes of the crowd. When the team suffered a defeat, all kinds of journalists forgot their age and rushed to Conte, trying to tear it to pieces. The young Conte, who had already felt uncomfortable, was now struggling even more. On the training ground the next day, Trapattoni noticed Conte's somber face. The manager noticed that the words in the newspaper had dampened the sharpness of his players, and a negative energy was approaching his team. Conte was filled with remorse, fearing that he would lose Tarconi's trust.
Led by Trapattoni, Conte joined his teammates in lifting the 1993 UEFA Cup
"When I walked into the training ground the next day, I had the feeling that I had just been beaten up by someone," Conte recalled in an interview with Football Italia later, "and all of a sudden, Trapattoni came out of nowhere, and he seemed to be able to read my mind." He said to me, 'You haven't been thinking about the mistakes you made yesterday, have you?' Hey, cheer up! Think about your future, you still have to play here for many years, it's not a big deal! 'If I hadn't had Trapponi at the time, I really don't know if I could have stayed at Juventus. ”
These simple few words are very crucial for Conte, who is in the final stage of his career. The comfort given by Trapattoni made Conte really figure out a truth: past history cannot be rewritten. Since then, Conte has also developed the habit of "focusing on the future" and "paying attention to what is about to happen, not clinging to the past gains and losses". Trapattoni and Conte, the pair of apprentices, ultimately failed to help Juve return to the top of Serie A. But some of the valuable experience gained from the gold coach was buried deep in Conte's heart and has benefited him a lot today.
Climb to the top of Europe
Lippi's arrival made Juve's future glory. He made the formation 4-3-3, with the midfield trio of Di Livio, Paulo Sousa and Conte, while Conte was placed on the left side of the midfield. It took a lot of time to run into this lineup, during which Juve also lost 2-0 to the weak team Foggia, and once this lineup was formed, there was a "winner's temperament" within Juventus - which Trapattoni failed to bring during his second term (1976-1986, he coached Juventus for the first time).
Under Lippi's tutelage, Conte and Juventus lifted the Serie A and Champions League trophies together
Thanks to his brilliance at Juventus, Lippi has the capital to lead the Italian national team to the top of the world in 2006. It was also under Lippi that Conte truly became a full-fledged player. He not only drew sufficient nutrients from the previous coach, but also sublimated his physical and mental functions at a higher level under Lippi's tutelage. Lippi is a great communicator and can skillfully control the course of an entire training session with shouts. He was willing to maintain close relationships with his players (except Baggio), and Conte was very impressed with this.
Conte also showed great enthusiasm for the new coaching concept brought by Lippi – not only admiring the football philosophy of the "Silver Fox", but also appreciating the way Lippi conveyed his message. Conte has seen many coaches before, and they originally had a lot of ink in their hearts, but because of the communication barriers, the efficiency of the team's execution was greatly reduced. There was no such problem in Lippi, and this was seen by Conte and remembered in his heart.
But while observing Lippi, Conte also perceives some of his weaknesses. During Lippi's tenure, Juve lifted the Serie A title three times in 1995, 1997 and 1998, but the "old woman" often suffered defeats whenever there was an important match that required competition. At his peak, Juventus reached the Champions League final for three consecutive years since 1996, but only once could he have the last laugh. Relying on goals from Del Piero (6 goals) and Ravanelli (5 goals), Juve reached the Champions League final in the summer of 1996 and beat Ajax through a penalty shoot-out, but the following year when the team once again stepped onto the stage of the Champions League final, Dortmund, led by Heathfield, destroyed them.
In the summer of 1996, Juventus beat Ajax to win the Champions League
The feeling left for Conte in the 1996 Champions League final was bittersweet. On the one hand, he reached the top of Europe for the first time; on the other hand, when the decisive moment came, he could only stay on the bench... In the 44th minute of that game, Conte, who had started the game, was replaced by Lippi with Yugovic, who was the winning penalty shootout. After laying the record, Conte also seemed extremely excited, especially happy for Yugovic – after all, the Serbian (after playing in his place) has made a great contribution to the team, which is the most important and most in line with Conte's world view.
A year later, Conte was eager to play a bigger role in another Champions League final. At this time, Conte has changed from a clueless young man with black eyes when he first entered the big club to the captain of this European famous door; from a Lecce boy who initially did not dare to look at Baggio, to an important figure who was highly respected and highly prestigious in the dressing room - you must know that in the Juve squad that year, a group of big stars with strong personalities have gathered, such as: Zidane, Davis, Deschamps and Montello... Uruguayan tough guy Montero, who has received a total of 19 red cards in his 10 seasons with Juve, is the most famous tough guy in Serie A history.
During his time at Juve, Conte worked with superstars such as Zidane and Davis
Unfortunately, Conte did not fare well in the 1996–97 season, with injuries causing him to miss most of his European matches. So when Juve reached the Champions League final again, Conte had to stay off the pitch – this time even in the stands. In the squad of opponents Dortmund, a large number of former Juve stars are gathered, including: Paul Sousa, Julio Cesar, Jürgen Kohler and Andreas Müller. Borussia Dortmund overpowered Lippi's side with a smarter way of playing, and the youngster Riken staged a miracle of "scoring the first touch of the ball", and finally Dortmund left Juve with a score of 3-1; in the 1998 Champions League final against Real Madrid, Conte was replaced in the 77th minute of the game, and the result was still unable to prevent Real Madrid from being crowned for the seventh time.
Experiencing consecutive final defeats has also allowed Conte to gradually see the essence of football - that is, one fiasco and another fiasco. But it was because he received psychological counseling from Trapattoni in the early days of joining Juve that Conte was able to survive adversity. As the leader of the team, he is still the most prestigious player in the Juve team. But from the current point of view, the heaviest blow to Conte has not yet arrived, and that accident has also had a strong impact on Conte, who will coach in the future. Ancelotti replaced Lippi in 1999, and in his first year of taking over the Juve whip, he made many promises, but in the end he gained very little. Conte, then 29, was at the peak of his athletic career, and he had been playing for The Old Woman for eight years.
Ancelotti greatly valued Conte's authority on the pitch and saw him as a regular workhorse for the team. At the beginning of the 1999-2000 season, Juve was busy participating in a tournament called the European Toto Cup, which was obviously a very humiliating experience for a prestigious European traditional giant. But in any case, Juve still won the final victory, and Conte also scored a goal in the final. Ancelotti could also choose Davis, Tachinadi and other strong players in the midfield position, but Conte was always the first player in the starting list to be circled. Because Ancelotti's Juventus needed a real leader.
Playing under Carlo Ancelotti, Conte experienced the final round of league defeat
Ancelotti's former owner is Parma, but Juventus fans have always had a hard time accepting his alternative identity (former AC Milan legend). Fans are resistant to Ancelotti's appointment, and although he brought the team back to the Champions League in his first season at the club, Ancelotti's efforts are still difficult to recognize. Conte was very open to this, and together with his teammates Piero, Zidane and Davies, he gave Juve a seemingly unshakable lead in Serie A.
However, the unthinkable happened. In the last 8 games of the league sprint, Juventus actually lost 4 games, eventually ceding the championship trophy to Lazio and their manager Eriksen. As a party to the massacre, Conte obviously could not accept that a "long season" would be completely broken by the slack of the last two months, recalling: "Winning the first Serie A title trophy is always a special moment. In addition to that, I remember Juve winning the title after beating Udinese in the last round and losing the title trophy to Perugia in the last round. The blow to the loss was devastating and I lost sleep for the next seven days. I can't sleep at the thought of ceding the title we already had to others. ”
As an Italian international, Conte has also experienced the defeat of the 1994 World Cup and the 2000 Euro 2000 final, but the frustration of any defeat can not surpass this league crash. Similarly, this defeat is also making the mentality of "Coach Conte" stronger and stronger. "When you've experienced failure, you learn again," Conte said in an interview with the Daily Mail, "and you reflect on why you can't win and learn a lot of things on your own initiative." The feeling of winning is wonderful, and whenever I win, I can find peace of mind. In order to win, I have to work hard, find ways to defeat the enemy, and give my players more options. Only after winning can I feel relaxed. ”
Conte competed as an international in Euro 2000 and scored a goal against Turkey
This mentality has made Conte's understanding of football even deeper. After the loss, Conte's response was not to roar and roar, but to find the reason for the loss and avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, and he wanted to put the education he received from Trapattoni and Lippi into practice.
Coach Conte
In 2004, Conte officially retired from the army, but did not say goodbye to football. Because During his time as a player, Trapattoni, Lippi and Ancelotti had a deep influence on his implementation, so it was natural for Conte to engage in coaching. Similar to his experience when he played football, Conte's coaching career has not been smooth. After only nine games in charge of Serie B club Arezzo, Conte was fired for his poor record. When the club found that his successor's lead was worse than Conte's, Conte was re-invited back to the coaching bench in a short period of time. After some tossing and turning, Arezzo still could not escape the fate of relegation...
Prior to coaching Juventus, Conte also coached arezzo, Barry, Atlanta and Siena
In December 2007, Conte was given a second chance to prove himself. As a result, in his first full season, he helped Bari move from second division to first division; however, after moving to Atalanta, Conte experienced a nightmare of 14 games, and in his last game in charge (Atalanta 0-2 Napoli), Conte even had physical confrontations with angry fans; then he spent a season in Siena, helping the team complete the relegation task, and Conte finally got the call of his old club, Juventus, in the summer of 2011. After all the hardships of the small club, Conte is ready to play a big game.
When Conte took up the title, Juventus had just experienced a period of lows. The club was relegated in 2006 for a phone-gate scandal, and although they returned to the top flight a year later, the badly injured team will need a period of adjustment to regain its clubmanship. They are no longer the winning general of the 1990s, and in the two seasons before Conte took over, the "old woman" was only 7th in the standings. Although Juventus management trusted Conte, they still did not believe that Conte could awaken a sleeping giant in such a short period of time. In his first season (2011-12), when he coached Juventus, Conte unleashed a big satellite – leading the team to a league unbeaten record.
Faced with a group of players inherited from his predecessors, Conte unabashedly spoke his mind. He has to let this group of players who are used to mediocrity know that under any circumstances, a seventh-place finish in the league is unacceptable for a giant like Juventus! His radicals worked, and the players' bloodiness was all mobilized.
During his three seasons in charge of Juve, Conte led the team to a miracle of three consecutive Serie A titles
Conte has long given the impression of a tough guy who refuses to compromise in the face of difficulties, but that doesn't mean he doesn't know how to be flexible when the philosophy of football suffers setbacks. Shortly after picking up the whip, Conte became obsessed with the 4-2-4 formation. However, when he found that this radical formation did not suit Juve, he decisively changed the formation to 4-3-3 and later 3-5-2. The 3-5-2 formation will not only allow juventus to play their best of the three juventus midfielders – Pirlo, Vidal and Malquisio – but also allow the wing-backs on the flanks to better support the two strikers.
Juventus' attack is fascinating, but the progress of the back line is even more remarkable. In the season before Conte took over the coaching whip, Juve defenders were still a group of stragglers who conceded 47 goals in a single season; but it was also this group of players, under Conte's new system, who became only 20 goals in the whole season. As the defensive line of Bonucci, Chiellini and Barzagli began to shake Europe, Juve also completely transformed into a team that is difficult to beat on any field. Signing Pirlo for free from AC Milan became one of the most successful transfer operations in modern football history, and the elegant organizer completely revitalized the already stiff Juve midfield in that season.
Conte has always been the most admired manager of the famous Pirlo.
At the same time, Conte's coaching style shocked Pirlo. In his published autobiography, Pirlo revealed: "When Conte speaks, the words that spew out of his mouth can have an impact on you. These words can break through your mental defenses and go deep into your brain in a rough way. I can't remember how many times I muttered, 'Damn, conte's words are fulfilled again today!' I had a hunch that he could be a good coach, but I didn't know he could be that good. I've worked with many coaches, and Conte was the one who surprised me the most. ”
Conte hated failure as a player, and this mentality became even stronger after he took charge. His Juventus is unlikely to have a season-ending crash, as Ancelotti did under him. In Conte's three seasons as manager, Juve have been raising the standard for Winning serie A titles, and in 2013-14 they achieved an incredible 102 points, 17 points ahead of second-place Roma.
After leaving Juve, Conte coached for the Italian national team for two years
Conte was appointed head coach of the Italian national team in 2014, and in a sense it was a much more difficult task for him to replicate his success at the club in the national team. After all, Conte can't have enough time with the team like a club coach. For Conte, it was a torture. Like his predecessor Sacchi, who coached himself, Conte "breathes soccer" every day, but since becoming manager of the Italian national team, he has had to adapt to coaching an empty shell team – players who can only meet it on International Break Day and the main stage of the tournament.
Before each game, Conte, who hated losing so much, did his homework. In fact, every professional coach will do this, but only some people's "pre-study homework" is truly qualified. The strategist Conte is a perfectionist who doesn't let go of any details and spends hours a day doing video analysis of his opponents. His greater ability is that when he makes tactical arrangements for players, Conte does not pull on some long speeches that make everyone feel boring, but only conveys some highly condensed information. Therefore, when conte's players step into the court, the players can do a clear job of "where they should appear when they have the ball in their possession; what should they do when they are on the defensive..."
His two years of coaching for the Italian national team have also been widely recognized by the outside world. After all, at Euro 2016 in France, Conte's side was described as "the most mediocre Italian team in nearly 50 years". But with only Jaccherini (an international who can't find a starting position in Sunderland), Pele and Eder (a Brazilian-born international), the Italian team played a wonderful European Championship.
Even before the European Championship, Chelsea FC had confirmed that Conte would take over as manager in 2016-17. And after witnessing the Blues' victory over Belgium in the European Cup, Chelsea's top brass will undoubtedly be more convinced that they have found the right person. Relying on tenacious fighting spirit and high team spirit, Conte crushed the European Red Devils who were unanimously optimistic about the outside world before the game. In his personal battle with Wilmots, Conte won a big victory.
Immediately after Euro 2016, Conte rushed to Chelsea to take office
The perfect pre-match and mid-match tactical set-up helped Italy beat the title favourites at the Stadio Olimpico in Lyon, and forced some fans who scorned the Blues before the game to look at them again. The term "alchemy" has been used more than once to praise Conte, who is good at tapping potential from within the team. On the pitch, we can see a team that implements high pressing, offensive and defensive balance, and dares to invest in attack, but this is only the appearance of "alchemy"; the deep reason for success is that Conte can let the players understand each other thoroughly. Against Belgium, the Italian players felt this and they became unstoppable.
Although Italy was eliminated by Germany in the quarter-finals, we felt a strong aura at the beginning of Conte's official landing in the Premier League. That feeling only existed in the first two years of Abramovich's first hiring of Jose Mourinho as Blues manager. The successive defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal in the opening stages of the league had a stimulating effect on Conte and his new players. In the games that followed, Chelsea began to change into a three-centre-back and quickly regained the status of winning, since then the Blues have become unstoppable - like Juventus, which Conte once coached, Chelsea has become another "winning machine".
Given his talent and qualifications, many believed from the outset that Conte was the man who "could reinvent Chelsea's glory". At this point in the season, these people will still marvel at Conte's achievements. Coaching Juventus, we can say "Conte is home", as a former player he should understand the success model of this club; but coaching Chelsea should be a completely different plot, doesn't he need to adapt to the Premier League, adapt to English, adapt to different cultural backgrounds? As a result, Conte responded in his own way – immersing himself completely in the world of football. In the shortest possible time, he will regain the confidence and desire to win again in a group of players who were almost "scrapped" by Mourinho last season.
In the face of another revolution set off by Conte in Chelsea, the English football circle can only applaud on the side, just as the Italian football circle was proud of the classic Juventus. In our opinion, the biggest feature of Conte's coaching is that he can achieve good results in the shortest time. During the European Championship, Conte spent 45 days creating a family atmosphere for the Italian national team; at Chelsea, he seems to have completed a similar project, building a dynasty team at Stamford Bridge that seems to have dominated the Premier League for many years.
In addition to the change, Conte has restored the unity of the Chelsea players
In the first decade of his career as a coach, Conte stood out from his peers with his excellent learning ability. The coaching philosophy and skills of People like Lippi, Trapattoni, Ancelotti and Sacchi gave Conte a thorough understanding of what football is all about. While absorbing knowledge, Conte is also building his own brand. His coaching style is known for its toughness and bluntness, and Bonucci once called him a "hammer" — because Conte's voice was not only strong and powerful, but always struck the point. Under normal circumstances, the reprimand from the head coach will not only not affect the unity of the team, but will make the generals more trusting. In addition to this, when the team's big stars show their personality (we can ask Diego Costa), Conte will not hesitate to exclude them from the lineup. The team's record has not been affected, which is another commendable place.
Conte once likened failure to death. Luckily, he and his Chelsea players haven't had much chance of experiencing this "death" this season.
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