COMMENT
"I want to show him everything I'm capable of and prove that he can rely on me next season." As auditions go, Eden Hazard's display for Belgium in Monday's Euro 2016 clash with Antonio Conte's Italy was as underwhelming as they come: No goals; no assists; no impact.
Hazard is perhaps just one of several high-profile victims of Marc Wilmots' inability to get the best out of the players at his disposal. However, in Lyon, Hazard did not offer anything like the kind of work-rate - let alone efficiency - that Conte demands of his players.
The Italian is a ruthless, compulsive character. He knows exactly what he wants and has no time for anyone unwilling to give it to him. As Emanuele Giaccherini explained to reporters after the Azzurri's impressive 2-0 win over the highest-ranked side at Euro 2016: "He works hard in training during the week and he wants his players to always play his football; namely that the defenders, the midfielders and the attackers all work hard." Essentially, there is no room for luxury players in Conte’s squad. That was clear from the moment he arrived at Juventus in 2011.
At his very first pre-season training session with his new team, the former Siena coach informed his new players in no uncertain terms that enough was enough. After back-to-back seventh-placed finishes in Serie A, it was time for the grand Old Lady of Italian football to stop "being crap". "Turning around this ship is not a polite request," he explained. "It's an order." Those willing to follow it were given starring roles. Those that did not were discarded. Regardless of their reputation.
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Milos Krasic is a fitting case in point. The Serbian had signed from CSKA Moscow the summer before at a cost of €15 million. He was touted as 'The new Pavel Nedved'. Even after a patchy debut season in Serie A, hopes were still high that Krasic would become just as popular in Turin as the Czech to whom he had been compared. However, it was clear after just three games - and one start - that Conte had little time for the winger. While diplomatically insisting that Krasic remained in his plans, Conte added, tellingly: "There is no question that whoever is on the field should try to do their best..." The implication was that while Krasic was trying, he was not trying hard enough.
There was also the fact that Conte quickly abandoned his initial plan to play 4-2-4. He quickly analysed the strengths of those available to him and promptly switched to a 3-5-2 formation designed at getting the best out of new arrivals Andrea Pirlo, Arturo Vidal and Stephan Lichtsteiner, as well as ball-playing centre-half Leonardo Bonucci. Krasic was one of those sacrificed and the Serb only made four more league appearances before being farmed out to Fenerbahce at the end of the 2011-12 season.
Hazard is undeniably a vastly superior player to Krasic but the Serb's story should serve as a warning for a player who appeared worryingly demotivated for the majority of last season, particularly during Jose Mourinho's final days at the helm. Hazard may have grown weary of the Portuguese coach and his defensive demands but if he is expecting to have an easier time under Conte, he is in for a rude awakening.
Conte is just as exacting, just as obsessive as Mourinho. This is a coach who throws bottles across the dressing room when he feels his team is not as far ahead as they should be. This is a man who wakes up in the middle of the night to jot down tactical plans that have been swirling about a brain that never switches off.
As Pirlo revealed, he is a beast with two wives: his partner of nearly two decades, Elisabetta, and 'The Beautiful Game'. It is this love of football, coupled with his meticulous attention to detail, that enabled him to immediately transform a mid-table Juve into the dominant force in Italian football. It also explains how he managed to mastermind a thoroughly deserved and hugely impressive win over Belgium with arguably the weakest group of Italian players in recent memory.
Conte was pleased with his picks, though. He had 23 men that he knew he could rely on. Wilmots knew as much too. "Italy have got a coach who is going to get them to play like warriors." That is exactly what they did - and exactly what Chelsea's players will have to do next season. Every single member of the dressing room will be expected to give up everything that their new boss asks of them.
On that fateful first meeting with Pirlo and the rest of the Juve team, Conte told those assembled before him: "You guys need to do only one thing and it's pretty simple: follow me." Anyone who does not will be shown the door – Hazard included.
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