Chelsea FC suffered one of its most miserable seasons in the just concluded 2017/18 Premier League campaign. A season that appeared promising after some seeming decent transfers were done went awry from the first day after the shock loss to Sean Dyche’s Burnley at Stamford Bridge.
One could easily recall how Chelsea boss Antonio Conte insisted that he wouldn’t want a recurrence of what he described to the media as a Mourinho-season. The comment obviously didn’t go down well with the latter as it sparked subsequent mouthy bouts in the media between the two managers.
Well, Conte has had his share of his own season. A season where new signings failed to impress by their supposed standards. A season where some needless signings appeared to have been made as they couldn’t contribute to the club’s success. A season where Conte’s tactics got found out. A season where Chelsea received footballing lessons from some supposed minnows. A season that saw rifts between Conte and some key players in the squad. The list is endless.
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This is the perfect definition of a Conte season. However, Conte has a date with Mourinho, as their sides square out against each other at Wembley for the final of the FA Cup. This title represents the only chance of silverware for both sides, and this adds spice to the game. What adds more spice, and makes the game an eagerly anticipated one is the rivalry that has existed between the two managers in the season, and this appears to be the climax.
Both managers have the chance of denying each other silverware this season. Mourinho wouldn’t want the Conte-season to end on a positive note, while Conte who said ‘I will not forget’ in response to Mourinho’s disparaging comments wouldn’t want the Portuguese manager to have the last laugh in their managerial feud in England.
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This could be the last game between the two in the Premier League as reports suggest that Conte may be set to leave Stamford Bridge after this game. They now have the chance to do the fighting with their tactics on the pitch in unarguably the most glorified stadium in England, Wembley. The media bants between the two won’t count for much, as anyone who emerges victoriously on May 19 in England’s most prestigious cup competition will definitely have the last laugh.
We have a game on our hands! But we wait to see how proceedings pan out on the pitch and on the sidelines. I expect a tantrum to be thrown by one of the managers on the sidelines to give the media another subject to discuss on, aside the result of the proceedings on the pitch.
Hopefully! Chelsea emerges victoriously, and Conte bows out on a relative high. That’s if the speculations on his departure pan out.
