Antonio Conte is creating problems at Chelsea, not finding solutions

The last thing Antonio Conte needed right now was to find something in common with Luiz Felipe Scolari, Andre Villas-Boas and Roberto di Matteo.

Conte’s future at Stamford Bridge has been the subject of debate since the summer and now, like his predecessors, the Chelsea coach has been humbled in Italy in the Champions League.

History shows that a Chelsea manager’s reign during the Roman Abramovich era has been cut short after heavy defeats in Italy. It started with Scolari, who was in charge the last time they faced Roma at the Stadio Olimpico almost exactly nine years ago.

Just as Conte’s men floundered last night, Scolari’s Chelsea lost 3-1 in dismal fashion and it sowed the seeds of the Brazilian’s demise at Stamford Bridge, albeit it took another three months before he was fired.

Meanwhile, Villas-Boas was sacked less than two weeks after losing 3-1 at Napoli in 2012 and Di Matteo was gone within 24 hours following a 3-0 loss to Juventus eight months later.

There is no suggestion Chelsea are about to hand Conte his P45 but this result and performance will bring some feelings of deja vu, as well as concern, among the powers that be.

After a stunning debut campaign, this is an even greater opportunity for Conte to prove what a good coach he can be. The 48-year-old has a lot of questions to answer and perhaps that is part of the problem because he appears to be looking for too many solutions.

One of the keys to Conte’s success in taking Chelsea to the Premier League title last May was consistency in selection and formation. Due to playing more games because of the Champions League this season, plus suffering injuries to key players, that has been impossible to replicate this term.

Still, the former Juventus and Italy coach is adding to the disruption by the way he is rotating personnel and making some strange tactical decisions.

For example, against Manchester City in September, he reacted to Alvaro Morata limping off with a hamstring injury by putting on Willian, rather than forward Michy Batshuayi.

In a game they were already struggling in, it handed the initiative to the visitors as there was no striker for the City defenders to worry about. By the time Batshuayi came on, Pep Guardiola’s side were cruising to a 1-0 victory.

A fortnight ago, Conte blamed his use of three midfielders, which included David Luiz being moved forward from central defence, for Chelsea’s 3-3 draw with Roma. However, Roma were losing when the Chelsea boss took Luiz off and scored twice after he switched back to his favoured 3-4-2-1.

Conte opted for the latter formation last night, too, which was a surprise given how Tiemoue Bakayoko and Cesc Fabregas both struggled against Roma first time and have looked fatigued of late. Granted, a hamstring injury has robbed Chelsea of N’Golo Kante’s influence for a sixth game in a row, but surely the backline needed more protection? That should have also been a priority following Conte’s surprise choice to swap captain Gary Cahill to the right of Luiz and Antonio Rudiger to the left.

Given Roma’s quality, it seemed a very odd game to move two of the three centre-halves away from the position they’re most accustomed to being in.

Rudiger in particular looked completely out of sorts with the change, yet remarkably it was Cahill who was taken off in the second half for Willian.

To take your skipper off in such circumstances is very unusual. In doing so, he has negatively affected a key member of the dressing room and raised scrutiny over a player’s future.

The gamble did not pay off. In fact, things got worse, not better. Pedro was moved to right wing-back - something Diego Perotti exposed by dribbling past the Spaniard with ease to fire home the third. The communication between the three centre-backs - Cesar Azpilicueta having moved inside to replace Cahill — deteriorated, too, some feat given what had already taken place.

There was a hint of comedy as all three defenders ran in a panic after Edin Dzeko, leaving Perotti unmarked. Luckily he sent the ball over the bar after the former City striker put a simple pass across the area.

At least Atletico Madrid drew with Qarabag for a second time last night to stay four points behind Chelsea in Group C, meaning victory in Azerbaijan in three weeks will see the Blues reach the last 16 with a game to spare.

Conte questioned the team’s hunger and said: “This season will be very difficult if we don’t understand quickly the right way that we have to go.

“If you are a great team, you must have stability. You must have consistency. At this moment we are struggling a lot to find this type of balance.” Wise words from Conte, yet he is the one who needs to take heed of them most of all.