The Italian coach, Antonio Conte, reminisces about his early days coaching Chelsea. According to Conte, he could have dominated the Premier League if Chelsea had managed to bring in two important players, who in fact failed to recruit, namely Romelu Lukaku and Virgil Van Dijk.
Yes, Antonio Conte managed Chelsea from 2016 to 2018. In his first season, he managed to win the Premier League title and the following season won the FA Cup.
Meanwhile in 2017, Antonio Conte plans to bring in Virgil Van Dijk to fill the position in Chelsea’s defense and Romelu Lukaku on the front line. According to him, the Blues can dominate the Premier League, if they are able to bring in these two players.
“After my first season at Chelsea, when we won the title, we could have been dominant in England. We spoke with (Romelu) Lukaku and (Virgil) Van Dijk, and with those two important players, we could have changed the situation,” said Antonio Conte quoted from Tribal Football, Friday (16/2/2024).
However, Chelsea actually brought in Antonio Rudiger from AS Roma in the summer of 2017. Meanwhile, Virgil van Dijk decided to strengthen Liverpool in January 2018.
Then Chelsea failed to get Romelu Lukaku, who preferred Manchester United in July 2017. The Blues finally brought in Alvaro Morata, but failed to show his best performance.
As a result of failing to get Virgil van Dijk and Romelu Lukaku, Chelsea finally had to settle for finishing in fifth place in the 2017-2018 Premier League final standings after collecting 70 points from 38 matches. Although the following season, the Blues were able to finish in third place but Antonio Conte decided to leave after the season ended.
Meanwhile, Antonio Conte said he always came at the wrong time, because the club was in difficult times. However, he admitted that he always builds so that the club he handles can perform well.
“(Looking at) my history I always arrive at clubs in difficult situations with (many) problems. (But) I always build,” he concluded.
Currently, Antonio Conte is without a club after leaving Tottenham Hotspur in March 2023. The Italian coach is also being linked with AC Milan to replace Stefano Pioli.
