This Saturday, Chelsea will arrive at Goodison Park to take on Everton in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. Fans of the London giants will have been hoping that this game would be taking place after the Blues had booked their ticket in the Champions League quarter-finals. But unfortunately, they were again thwarted by Ligue 1 powerhouse PSG, who dumped them out of the competition after defeating them 2-1 both in Paris and, most recently, in London to progress 4-2 on aggregate.
Given that Chelsea are currently ten points behind fourth-placed Manchester City - who also have a game in hand - a top four finish appears out of the question. As such, the FA Cup not only represents their remaining shot at any kind of silverware, but also the only route available into European competition. Of course, Everton, who sit in 12th, two points and two places behind Chelsea, will also have every intent to make sure they are the ones to book a spot in the semi-finals at the expense of Guus Hiddink's side.
So, with the possibility of finishing this campaign sans any trophies being an uncomfortably realistic one, many supporters have already turned their attention towards hopefully experiencing better fortunes next season. From the beginning, Hiddink's arrival was just a stop-gap solution and he will be departing at the conclusion of this term. Meanwhile, several names have been bandied about in the press, with one - Antonio Conte - reportedly being close to securing the position.
Antonio Conte: A proven track record of success in Italy, but what can he bring to the Premier League?
Conte is not a name that will be as familiar to Premier League fans, but he is certainly a known entity among those who tune in to Serie A every weekend. And he has a proven track record at reviving a struggling giant. When he first arrived at Juventus at the start of the 2011/2012 season, the Bianconeri were still reeling from the aftereffects of the Calciopoli scandal. The Scudetto race had become dominated by Inter, with AC Milan claiming the 2010/2011 edition, whilst the Bianconeri had finished in a disappointing seventh.
Under Conte, Juventus went from a floundering side to returning to dominance in Italy
Although he had been an integral part of Juventus as a midfielder, winning one Europa League, one Champions League and five Scudetti during his term there, Conte returned to Turin without a great deal of managerial experience in the top flight. Still, the club's board, who hired him after he guided Siena back into Serie A during the 2010/2011 season, had plenty of faith in the former player to help Juventus re-claim their spot among Italy's elite.
And, as La Vecchia Signora supporters are well aware, he certainly did not disappoint. Here are some of the milestones achieved by Conte during his three seasons in Turin:
- March 20, 2012: Became the first coach to guide Juventus to a Coppa Italia final since Marcello Lippi did so in 2004.
- March 25, 2012: After beating Inter at Juventus stadium, Conte became the first manager to defeat the Nerazzurri both home and away in the Derby d'Italia since Fabio Capello achieved this in the 2005/2006 season.
- In 2011/2012 , Juventus became the first team to complete a Serie A campaign sans defeat (this is since the team expanded to 20 teams and 38 rounds).
- During the 2012/2013 term, Juventus successfully defended their league crown; impressively is the fact that their top two scorers - Arturo Vidal and Mirko Vucinic only managed 10 goals each - but the team still accumulated 71 goals and finished nine points clear of Napoli.
- In 2013/2014, Conte led the Bianconeri to their third consecutive Scudetto and became the first Italian team to break the 100 points barrier by accumulating 102 points over the course of 38 rounds.
However, despite this, one area Conte was not able to succeed was in European competition. Under his tenure, the best ever finish Juventus achieved in the Champions League was the quarter-finals, and although they reached the semi-finals in the Europa League during the 2013/2014 season, this result was greeted with disappointment as they were unable to participate in the final that was held at their own stadium.
That being said, Conte's tacticial nous and comfort in experimenting with different formations, as well as his general coaching philosophy, which focused on the concept of grinta (translated as determination or grit) would make him an ideal candidate to shake things up at Chelsea and to get them back on track - just as he did with Juventus.
So far, he has also posted good results with the Italian national team, losing just once since taking over following Cesare Prandelli's departure. And whilst the position at Stamford Bridge would be his first outside his native Italy, his work with La Vecchia Signora should speak for itself as Chelsea will be desperate to re-claim their spot among England's top sides after a disasterous time this season.
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