At one stage, it looked like Antonio Conte was going to build a dynasty at Chelsea.
The impact that he made in his first season at Stamford Bridge was incredible. Chelsea went on to win the 2016/17 Premier League title with a record of 30 victories, three draws and just five defeats. It saw them finish top of the table with 93 points.
The summer ahead of the 2017/18 campaign, there was talk about Chelsea signing Virgil van Dijk, Romelu Lukaku and Alex Sandro — three players who would have undoubtedly elevated an already exceptional team.
Conte was close to building something special, but everything started to collapse after the Italian decided to banish Diego Costa from the first-team squad and none of the above names were signed. Fast forward to now, and there are lessons current Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca can learn from.
Antonio Conte’s decision to get rid of Diego Costa backfired
In the summer of 2017, Costa revealed that Conte had informed him via text message that he was not in his plans for the 2017/18 season.
The two did not have the best relationship despite winning the title together, something Costa admitted.
“Conte said he did not count on me for next season,” the former Chelsea striker was quoted as saying by BBC Sport. “My relationship with the coach has been bad this season. It’s a shame, I’ve already forwarded the message to Chelsea people to decide.”
Still, for Conte to axe his 20-goal striker before the club had lined up a proven replacement was complete and utter madness.
Conte was probably confident that Chelsea could secure the services of Lukaku, his first-choice target, who was at Everton at the time. However, Lukaku ended up at Manchester United instead, resulting in Chelsea having to sign Alvaro Morata.
And while Morata started off the 2017/18 campaign strongly, he ultimately proved to be an unsuccessful acquisition at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues would go on to finish the season outside of the top four, missing out on Champions League qualification as a result. Had Conte persisted with Costa, though, you suspect that it would have been a much different outcome.
A lesson for Enzo Maresca
What Conte’s decision to offload Costa and the 2017/18 campaign show is that it is really difficult to accomplish your goals without having a reliable No.9.
Chelsea saw that last term with Nicolas Jackson. By no means was the Senegal international terrible. He scored 14 goals in 35 Premier League appearances. But it was not enough as his side failed to qualify for the Champions League.
In truth, Jackson had enough chances to score more goals than that and arguably fire the Blues into the top four. But that did not happen and Chelsea are at risk of seeing a repeat.
Ultimately, if Maresca wants Chelsea to be a side who finish in the top four every season and compete for the title, then he needs a centre-forward who is more like Costa than Jackson.
Chelsea continue to be linked with Liam Delap and other strikers. Whether someone like the Ipswich Town man can replicate Costa remains to be seen, but what is clear is Maresca needs to find a reliable No.9 and keep hold of him, something Conte failed to do.
With time, Jackson may be able to become that No.9. But right now there are still many doubts about him.
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