Sport
Costa and Conte must share blame in their feud
Often in the case of managers like Chelsea’s Antonio Conte, their greatest asset is their greatest curse. The Italian has lit up the Premier League since joining the Blues last summer, quickly showing why he was the perfect man to get them out of the situation they found themselves in, floundering after a tenth-placed finish and legendary former boss Jose Mourinho’s departure the season earlier.
Conte’s intensity can be intoxicating and became a main reason for Chelsea bouncing back to win the Premier League last term. His demands are not just on the pitch, but off it too, and some have said that playing for him can become tiresome; he can even go too far. As a hard-hitting midfielder who played to his strengths at Juventus for eleven years, Conte relied on these same principles, but let his frustrations boil over when he left the Bianconeri as coach in 2014, a day before pre-season began. Giving absolutely no regard to timing shows what kind of man he can be.
It has been speculated that his temperature is rising with Chelsea, too, and it has become clear that he is not completely happy with the state of his squad. But his ruthless nature has come into play again with Diego Costa, with whom he has unsurprisingly had a turbulent relationship at Stamford Bridge. It now appears beyond repair, with Costa fleeing to his native Brazil and refusing to return because his boss reportedly told him, by text, that he wasn’t needed after the FA Cup final defeat to Arsenal in May.
The story runs deeper than that, because Costa had told Conte of his desire to return to former club Atletico Madrid as early as last summer and that had set the tone. In January, reports of a £30million-per- year contract offer from a Chinese club saw another argument and Costa suspended from training. By the end of the season, it didn’t matter that he’d scored 20 Premier League goals and inspired a second title win in three seasons, in Conte’s mind he was trouble.
Chelsea fans now find themselves in an odd situation, because both Conte and Costa are fan favourites, but equally people who could walk away at any minute. Alvaro Morata has arrived in a club-record deal to fill the void up front, and an early goal, albeit in a shock defeat to Burnley, promises much for the future. But the volatile nature of both the Chelsea manager and their seemingly outgoing former top striker has done nobody any favours in West London.
It is quite clear what the outcome the player would want is, a move back to Atletico Madrid. The problem is, Chelsea hold all the power in the situation because Los Rojiblancos cannot sign anyone this summer under the terms of a transfer ban and so are in no position to negotiate. By staying away, wracking up the fines and refusing to return, Costa is only spiting himself, while Conte laughs out loud as he did in his press conference before Sunday’s victory over Tottenham Hotspur.
“If it were up to me, I’d be playing” read a statement from Costa last week, and while only Conte knows whether he would had he returned at the right and proper time, he certainly wouldn’t be training with the reserves as he will be now should he return. From Conte’s point of view, he has broken one of the golden rules of management and written off a player, and a good one at that. No matter what they may have done, cutting ties so definitely is never a good idea.
An extraordinary series of events in Munich, when Carlos Tevez refused to come on as a substitute for Manchester City against Bayern in a 2011 Champions League game, saw Roberto Mancini do just that. It felt understandable, and a similar, but lengthier exile to Costa’s ensued. Six months later, though, Tevez returned to City and helped them lift the Premier League title for the first time.
In many ways, since winning the league in 2014/15, Chelsea have become one big soap opera. All of the unsavoury incidents, which occurred the following campaign for Mourinho, plunged it into disaster, yet a year later they were celebrating again, because Conte had whipped them into shape. Now, the question is asked, will they settle into the routine of title challenges again, or will there be another ugly scene on the horizon?
With John Terry gone, the cracks are appearing off the pitch. He kept everything together and led from behind the scenes in the end, but his importance never wavered. Conte must be the glue now, rather than a divisive figure, but Costa should never have walked away in the manner he has either.
Diego Costa is one of the finest strikers in Europe when he is fit, firing and motivated, yet it is becoming increasingly clear that only Diego Simeone knows how to manage him properly. Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho have had issues with him despite sharing some attitudes with Simeone, and the looks like it will eventually reach a conclusion, even if Costa has to wait until January.
Another unnecessarily frustrating summer has put a dark cloud over Chelsea’s start to the season, and the most frustrating thing is it has been entirely avoidable.
