Antonio Conte – The Caged Lion

The title of the article will suit perfectly for the current situation of Juventus manager Antonio Conte. Though, the Italian giants have begun their season impressively, the suspension of their manager Antonio Conte will have an effect both to the players and the fans.

Conte changed the status of the  club from “living in the past” to awakened giant, looking to crush whatever comes in his way. Because of his leadership, Juventus fans can now once again smile and feel the familiar sensation of pride and cockiness that characterized them since the 90′s.

When appointed as the new manager of Juventus on May 22, 2011 replacing Luigi Delneri he was immediately touted to lead Juventus to success. Antonio Conte spent more than a decade at the club playing as an attacking midfielder and he was a fan favourite. It took just one season for Conte to win the scudetto bringing back the glory days of the club, which seemed to be fading out of the Bianconeri fans. Antonio Conte achieved his childhood dream of winning the Scudetto title as a Juventus Manager and he did it in style as he was able to guide Juventus to the title without losing a game, a phenomenon which occurs rarely in the mordern football era. 

Antonio Conte will not be available in the touch line:

With great success comes greater problems. Conte has been banned for 10 months in a match fixing scandal in the games concerned were between Novara and Siena in May 2011, which ended 2-2, and between Albinoleffe and Siena in the same month which ended in a 1-0 defeat for Siena. After the Italian’s plea has been rejected, he is now set to manage the club without standing in the touch line. Antonio Conte will be allowed to held the team talks prior to the games but the care taker manager Massimo Carrera is the man to stand in the touch line giving in-game instructions to the players. Juventus will be missing out on Conte‘s tactical changes within the game which saved a couple of crucial games for the Bianconeri. 

Ban on Conte, will not affect Juventus:

Conte’s ban will not affect us – Buffon

The manager has been influential for the rejuvenation of Juventus, but to think that his ban will affect the success of Juventus is something one should not overlook at. Even though, it seems that Conte’s influence is beyond physical, Juve have started off the season in a decent manner with evidenced by Juve’s strong opening of the season and identical intensity in play. Speaking about the ban of his manger, Gianluigi Buffon said:

“It’s not like Conte’s suspension is helping the team, a coach like him influences in the same way in the changing room and from the bench during the game,” he told La Stampa. “He did a masterpiece last year with the victories and providing the winning mentality, but now I see him as a caged lion.”

 It will be a great loss for Juventus as they will miss Conte on the sidelines, but to look at the positive side, he does his work where he will be allowed to operate—behind closed doors. And the Italian, can engrave himself into the history books if he acvieves success even without sitting on the bench, a feat whcih no manager has dared to dream. 

Conte even received special praises from the man they call the “special one” himself, Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho. Speaking to Tuttosport, Mourinho was full of praises for the Bianconer manager:

“The fans call Conte the Italian Special One? I like that. I feel honoured. He is a bit like me, I like Conte a lot as a coach. He knows what he wants and is a real winner. He has a lot of charisma.”

 

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