Antonio Conte arrived at Chelsea after making waves at the 2016 Euros with what was earmarked as one of the worst Italy squads in their recent history, the pressure on his shoulders was minimal, to say the least.
After a successful tournament, the Italian strolled into Stamford Bridge in a similar situation.
Off the back of a disastrous title defence, a squad that had been broken apart through ‘player power’ and Jose Mourinho’s mis-management, the main objective for Chelsea’s new head coach was an immediate return to Champions League football.
The rest as they say, is history. The former Juventus man guided Chelsea to the Premier League title in what was a record-breaking season for the club.
Now, Conte heads into his second Premier League season, fresh off the back of signing an improved two-year contract at Stamford Bridge.
Frustrated by lack of transfer activity, depsite making what you can consider three ‘major’ signings in the form of Tiemoue Bakayoko, Alvaro Morata and Antonio Rudiger, as well as Willy Caballero, who joins as an understudy to Thibaut Courtois.
Something that sounds all too familiar to some Chelsea fans. You only need to look back at Carlo Ancelotti’s time at the club, where still to this day he is considered desperately unlucky by most Chelsea fans to lose his job just one season after winning a domestic double at Stamford Bridge.
After finishing Chelsea’s first season without a trophy in three years, the Italian was relieved of his duties, depsite his achievements of the previous campaign that saw the Blues play some of the best, attacking and free-flowing football fans have seen for some time.
It was a feeling echoed, as Phil McNulty described in a BBC column at the time.
Carlo Ancelotti’s dismissal as Chelsea manager immediately after the season’s final game is ruthless even by Roman Abramovich’s standards.
That time around, like this new season, Chelsea were competing on all four fronts. Their summer signings left plenty to be desired. Yossi Benayoun, Tomas Kalas, Matej Delac and Ramires all arrived, with only the latter being a success by all accounts. The Blues were forced to act in January through the signings of Fernando Torres and David Luiz.
While the expectations surrounding Conte are slightly different this time around, it’s worth reminding ourselves of how that season panned out for Ancelotti across the four competitions.
Premier League: 2nd.
Champions League: Quarter-finals.
FA Cup: Fourth round.
League Cup: Third round.
In Europe, Chelsea eased through their group, losing just once to Marseille in the last round of fixtures and they would go on to lose to Manchester United over two legs in the quarter-finals.
A second-string Chelsea side, featuring the likes of Ross Turnbull and Patrick van Aanholt dropped out of the League Cup against Newcastle, while Everton knocked the Blues out of the FA Cup on penalties in a fourth-round replay.
Premier League winning managers being sacked the following year has become something of a trend, with both Mourinho and Claudio Ranieri at Leicester losing their jobs in recent years.
Chelsea fans will be hoping that Roman Abramovich takes into account not only the success of Conte’s first season, but also manages the expectations rather than raising them during his second campaign.
Winning the Premier League in his second season may well have been something of a realistic target set by Abramovich had the Italian not done so well in his maiden campaign, but the focus now appears to have shifted towards European success again.
All of which means that Conte may well have more time and dare we say it, luck on his side compared to what Ancelotti was afforded.
Abramovich has craved Champions League glory from the moment he took charge of the club and has made it his aim to install Chelsea as one of Europe’s elite.
Chelsea have failed to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League in their last two appearances in Europe.
Conte himself did not have the greatest European record during his time with Juventus, something he’ll be hoping to put right in the season.
The demand for an improvement on the European front may suggest that a piece of silverware, alongside a top four finish, could be enough for Conte.
European success looks to be what is holding the key for Conte to succeed at Chelsea next season as he aims to avoid the curse that is being a Premier League winning manager.
