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What is it about Chelsea manager Antonio Conte’s tactical approach that makes him kryptonite to Pep Guardiola?

The Chelsea boss is the only man to achieve a league double over Guardiola, and the Spaniard duly regards him as one of the best coaches in the world

Jack Pitt-Brooke
Friday 29 September 2017 18:13 BST
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Conte got the better of his Manchester City counterpart last season
Conte got the better of his Manchester City counterpart last season

The first time Manchester City were beaten by Chelsea last season, in December, Pep Guardiola was very impressed how his team played. They had dominated for an hour, gone 1-0 up, and missed chances for a second before everything imploded in the last 30 minutes.

Guardiola was so pleased, in fact, that he said City’s start had been as good as a team of his had played in his managerial career. “The way we played, during that the first hour, we played faster than in Munich and even in Barcelona,” he said.

“We played really good, had a lot of control and created chances, but the ball in the box was not strong enough. But one hour after the game, I think to myself: this season is going to be good.”

The second time City were beaten by Chelsea last season, in March, Guardiola was almost as impressed. “I am happier than I was [after the 2-2 draw] against Arsenal ,” he said.

“To come here to the best team in the Premier League, and play like we play, with huge personality, I am a lucky guy to be manager of these guys. It is encouraging for the future.”

It was the first and only time that a manager has done the double – home and away league wins – over Guardiola in his managerial career. Guardiola had gone into last season viewing Antonio Conte as the best manager in the world and his biggest rival to winning the Premier League. The matches between their two teams, and indeed Chelsea’s whole season, had proven Guardiola right.

Chelsea got the better of City last season

But why did Guardiola’s City play so well and still lose to Chelsea twice last year? What is it about Conte’s approach that makes him tactical kryptonite to Guardiola?

It hinges, in the broadest terms, on what the two coaches are trying to achieve. Guardiola is the most ambitious manager in the game, constantly innovating with tactics and training to play a style of football that has never been seen before. He wants to dominate the ball, control the game and play beautiful winning football too. He already has six league titles and two Champions Leagues to show for it.

Conte is not trying to change the game as much as he is trying to win it. His idea of football, as he describes it, is based more than anything else on hard work. And he will happily work with any willing player to get there. As he said at his Chelsea unveiling, he is a tactical “tailor”, who will cut his cloth according to his requirements.

Guardiola is the most ambitious coach in the game 

This philosophical difference translates into the characteristics of the teams. Conte’s sides, whether Juventus, Italy or Chelsea, all have a physical robustness, with every player working hard in the patterns Conte has tirelessly drilled them in. Whatever happens, and whoever is playing, the “little war machine”, as Conte calls it, motors reliably on.

Guardiola’s sides are far more fragile. The football is so complex, demanding that the players understand his concepts and follow all of his precise details, that it cannot carry anyone not fully up to speed. When every player understands and executes his plans it is beautiful to watch. But like an orchestra, or a house of cards, only one part has to go wrong for the whole to collapse.

That, in a sense, is the story of when City played Chelsea last year. When they met at the Etihad Stadium City matched Chelsea’s 3-4-3 and played them off the park for the first hour. When Kevin De Bruyne had a chance to put City 2-0 up he could have capped off what would have been one of their displays of the season. But he missed, Chelsea scored three times on the break in the second half and that was that.

Conte's sides are always robust and tough to beat 

City may have controlled the game, but Chelsea dominated the moments.

That defeat still stings City and Ilkay Gundogan said this week how efficient Chelsea were that day. “We did a good job in the game and played quite well but Chelsea were just ruthless,” he said. “They scored and punished us and we made too many mistakes.”

That was the story at Stamford Bridge too. City conceded a sloppy goal, took control, equalised, conceded from a penalty and then couldn’t score a second in the second half. Again, Guardiola pointed to how his team created 20 chances but Chelsea scored from both of theirs.

The problem with Guardiola’s perfectionism, compared to Conte’s, is that Guardiola leaves himself no room for error. It only takes small things going wrong – mistakes in either box – for City to lose playing well. Everything needs to go right and every player needs to play well. That might happen tomorrow, but it might not, and if it doesn’t then Conte’s machine will surely power through the gaps.

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