In life sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, also the timing of when things happen is a key component to finding success rather than failure in a given situation. While we can’t know for sure, I suspect Conte wouldn’t have become Juve’s next great coach had he arrived in the summer of 2009 rather than in 2011. The chapter on almost joining Juve while Secco was still the DS of the club, gives us great insight in the types of players Conte looks for.
In March of 2009, Conte’s Bari is well on it’s way to returning to Serie A while using the famed 4 2 4 formation. Juve, on the other hand, is somewhat struggling under then coach Ranieri (I had to chuckle when I read Tevez calling him one of the world’s best manager when asked about joining Monaco this weekend). Secco contacts Conte to ask him what he would do if he were to become Juve’s coach, they set up a meeting in Milan to discuss it in person. Conte explains that he wants a team that attacks and defends together (if you remember Conte was inspired by Lippi asking his forward trio of Vialli/Ravanelli/Del Piero to help out their teammates defensively), and the two agree to remain in the touch before the summer mercato starts.
Secco called Conte out of the blue to ask his opinion on Werder Bremen trequartista Diego, who was valued at 25 million euro at the time. Conte tells him that considering Juve already had Amauri, Trezeguet, Del Piero and Iaquinta (who back then was playing very well) he did not think spending a small fortune on Diego was a wise idea. Conte explains that to make his formation work at Juve he would need great wingers- he suggests Robben and Walcott to Secco instead of Diego. Quick tangent-I give a lot of credit to Conte for adapting his formation to Juve’s personnel since becoming the club’s coach. We know from previous chapters, Van Gaal (a self described dominant and arrogant coach) was his role model, so I find it interesting Conte was willing to change his trademark formation to suit the needs of club. Once Vidal and Pirlo were acquired, Conte set aside the 4 2 4 and built his team on the centre midfielders. Once Bonucci, Chiellini, Barzagli developed great chemistry he installed the 3 CB defense and finally once Pogba exploded on the scene he switched once again to a 3 5 1 1. It will be very interesting to see what he does next season formation wise, but I do suspect Conte will continue to adapt his formation to strenght of club rather than other way around.
After Juve continued to struggle under Ranieri, Secco leaked to the press the fact the club was close to signing Diego, as a way to placate the fans. Secco called Conte in early May to tell him the deal for Diego was done (proving once again that many deals are sealed well before transfer period “officially” opens). Conte tells him he envisions using Diego in as either one of the central strikers in 4 2 4 or as a “trequartista” in a 4 2 3 1.
Finally on May 18th Ranieri is sacked as Juve’s coach, Conte’s former teammate Ciro Ferrara (judging by the book they were never particularly close) is named the interim coach- he was previously overseeing Juve’s youth teams. Conte is still however the front runner for the job the following season. The final hurdle for getting the is a meeting with then team president Jean Claude Blanc (who at least deserves a lot of credit for his efforts building Juve Stadium) which lasts 5 hours. Conte once again stresses how important it is for him to have strong wing players (I’m sure he did not envision facing Bayern Munich with the likes of Peluso and Padoin), strikers willing to help out the team defensively, and finally a strong athletic coach coach (remember Ventrone was the one who got him his first job at Siena on De Canio’s staff so I wonder if he was trying to return the favor). Shortly after the meeting ended, Secco tells Conte his return to Juve as coach is essentially a done deal. A few weeks later, Bari is mathematically promoted to Serie A but the rumors of Conte’s departure are the talk of the town.
Just as Conte is starting to plan his move back to Turin, Secco calls him to tell him there is a problem. Diego only wants to play in a 4 3 1 2 and isn’t thrilled to hear of Conte’s plans to go with a different formation. Conte is furios (remember how upset he was when Moggi did not live up to his promises?) and tells Secco he will never succed if he changes his plans based on what one players wants. Shortly after this conversation, Juve removes the “interim” tag from Ferrara’s title and he is named coach for the following season. Quick tangent- I strongly believe “the Diego incident” was the best thing that happened to Conte as a coach. Juve was in a much worse situation in 2009, Marotta/Paratici had yet to arrive so the team didn’t have Vidal, Pirlo, Bonucci, Barzagli, Lichtsteiner on the roster yet. While Conte would have likely done better than Ferrara/Zaccheroni/DelNeri he was much better off gaining more experience as coach, and arriving when Juve had a much better roster. While Diego was a disappointment at Juve, he did have a strong impact on the past two scudetti after all.
On top of not getting the Juve job, Conte would also have to leave Bari when the club did not want to bring him the players he requested for the new season in Serie A. Conte had agreed to general terms on a new 1 year extension (the club wanted to offer him a two year deal) with Bari, but when it came time to sign the real contract, the owner told him buying the players necessary to use in the 4 2 4 would be too expensive. Conte would decide to join Atalanta instead on a matter of principle. This episode leads me to believe the recent meetings between Conte and Juve’s top brass (Andrea Agnelli, Marotta, Nedved, Paratici) gave me him enough guarantees Juve’s roster will be up to his standards.