Erstwhile Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho and his successor Antonio Conte clashed at the Stamford Bridge at the weekend, and it was the Italian that came out tops with an emphatic victory over the Portuguese-led Red Devils.
Jose Mourinho will always take a large chunk of pages in Chelsea’s history books, and his achievements for the club will never be taken away from him. Now, with a new coach at the helm of affairs at the west London side, comparing him with his predecessor is inevitable. Especially given that they share many things in common.
But is it safe to say he (Antonio Conte) is a better manager than Jose Mourinho? Let these 3 points be the judge.
He is effectively cleaning up Mourinho’s mess
Mourinho made a mess of Chelsea last season, and the damage he left by December was way beyond repairable for Guus Hiddink. Conte was employed on a permanent basis to help Chelsea recover lost grounds following their title defence collapse, and to say he is doing a great job at it is to state the obvious.
Yes it hasn’t been the easiest of tasks, and huge losses to Arsenal and Liverpool have made us question if he is really able to help Chelsea, but since changing to his preferred formation, the team looks more settled and have gotten results.
Stiffer tests will come, and Conte’s men won’t pass them all in flying colours, but the evidence is there for all to see. Only a better manager can clean up the mess his predecessor leaves well, and Antonio Conte is doing a great job at it.
Conte always gets the best out of his players. Always
While Jose remains one of the best to ever grace the touchline, his managerial skills aren’t all that enviable. He isn’t really the best player-manager there is as he concentrates more on getting the results even if his players have to do a dirty job to get it done.
Only a few are surprised that the world most expensive player hasn’t been convincing since his arrival, while a Mkhitaryan that tore Bundesliga teams apart with his numerous assists failed to hit the ground running.
Victor Moses – a player who was never considered good enough by Jose is now a key player having been deployed as a wing back, while the team is excelling in a new formation that brings out the best in everybody.
It was the same at Juve where Conte monopolized the Serie A with a crop of players beating everybody to the title with ease. The same Pogba that is finding it hard to get his rhythm came to prominence under Conte. Who is the better manager?
Conte builds and leaves a TEAM for his successors
Giampiero Ventura and Massimiliano Allegri inherited great squads at the Italy national team and Juventus respectively, and they owe their predecessor Antonio Conte a lot of gratitude.
He already turned these sides into great quality teams capable of challenging any team in the world and emerging tops, so all his successors had to do was follow his blueprint and build on the solid foundation he already laid.
Mourinho did a very good job with Inter Milan, leading them to a treble, but the team has been a shadow of itself ever since. Real Madrid took a lot of work before they could get back on track after he left, and Chelsea are in recovery mode following their wreckage last season. Not a good attribute of a true manager, and it’s really safe to say Conte is better than he is!
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