Antonio Conte hoping to salvage season and strengthen Chelsea legacy with FA Cup victory over Southampton
In the tumultuous history of the modern Chelsea, where impending disaster stalks every title and each boom is followed by bust, it has become increasingly difficult to quantify the meaning of success.
Would victory in the FA Cup be enough to assuage the damage of failing to qualify for next season’s Champions League? Would a triumphant day at a Wembley final wash away the various tensions that have pockmarked an awkward season? And would a domestic trophy restore to its gleaming best the reputation of Antonio Conte, a manager who has veered from brilliant to belligerent but still lays claim to being one of Europe’s finest?
These are the questions that will hover over Chelsea’s players as they trot out to face Southampton in an FA Cup semi-final that provides them with a chance to salvage a campaign defined by bickering and underperformance. But for Conte, it perhaps goes further than that. For him, the FA Cup represents an opportunity to strengthen his legacy, enhance his standing and add a touch more glamour to the CV before his inevitable departure this summer.
The Italian enjoys reminding people that he is a winner - “I don’t play to enjoy,” he said, on the eve of this trip to Wembley - yet his second season is dangerously close to being classified as a failure. It is arguably Conte who has the most to gain from lifting the FA Cup trophy next month, and the most to lose from allowing this season to fade into insignificance.
“Every season I start with only one idea in my mind,” he said. “In my mind, in my heart, in my soul must be this winning mentality. If I win something, I did my job, not something special. If we don’t win, I am very angry, above all with myself. But at the same time I am ready to work harder to try and win something the next chance I have.”
It is, one suspects, this dynamic that has made Conte so preoccupied with the mental state of his squad. As he has struggled to maintain his hold over players that have become gradually less responsive to his high-maintenance approach, Conte has become increasingly concerned with their “spirit”.
He spoke after last week’s league victory over Southampton about the importance of having the right “fire in the eyes”, and said he failed to transfer the “right passion” to his players in the first half.
Again, ahead of this second meeting with Mark Hughes’s side in eight days, he reiterated the importance of enthusing his players with his “winning mentality”. The message is clear: you must be as hungry as I am. If not, trouble awaits. Conte learned as much in the first hour of their visit to Southampton last week, when they trailed 2-0 before substitute Olivier Giroud inspired a late comeback.
“If we are the team that played the first half and a part of the second half [at St Mary’s], we must be concerned,” Conte said. “Really concerned. If we go to play with the right team spirit, like against Burnley [on Thursday] or in the last minutes of the Southampton game, we have a possibility of reaching the final. But my players have to know this.”
Conte has been here before, overseeing the defeat of Tottenham Hotspur in a thrilling semi-final last season before they went on to be beaten by an under-strength Arsenal in the final, which clearly still grates.
“I must be honest,” he said. “Last season we missed a great chance to win the FA Cup. We were in the best condition to try and go and win the FA Cup, and we missed that chance. It was our fault. We could do better. In that moment, we were stronger than them.”
Conte believes that this year’s final would be more challenging, given the calibre of the opposition. They must overcome Southampton first, though, and Conte has a decision to make over which attacking players he selects. He paired Giroud with Alvaro Morata in the victory over Burnley, and could do the same again at Wembley despite Morata’s disappointing return of two goals in 18 games since Boxing Day.
Conte will be without the suspended Marcos Alonso again, while midfielder Danny Drinkwater is a doubt. The Italian should still have more than enough firepower, though, to see off the challenge of a Southampton side that remains four points away from Premier League safety with four games remaining.
“I am very surprised to see them in this position in the table,” Conte said. “They have talented players. Don’t forget, only one week ago we were losing 2-0 after 60 minutes. The last game, it will be very important for our approach, for our future in this competition.”
And, perhaps, for his future beyond this club.
