Conte still living near Chelsea training ground, looking for new ‘convincing’ project

Upon reflection, Antonio Conte is satisfied.

Probably not with the way things ended last summer — and that legal fight with Chelsea over compensation and severance is still ongoing, although should be coming to a close soon — but up until the FA Cup final win twelve months ago, it was a satisfactory time. It could’ve been better, certainly. We could’ve had something special. It was still pretty, pretty, pretty good.

(And for many of us, his methods and beliefs also continue to make more sense than the supposed genius of Sarri-ball, but I don’t want to digress too much.)

“Chelsea represented a very important experience for my career, as a Coach needs to have an experience abroad, dealing with other cultures and languages. I am satisfied, we won a Premier League title and played in two FA Cup Finals in two years.”

In his altogether all too brief time at Stamford Bridge, Conte brought home two trophies in two seasons, while recovering the team from the shocking mid-table finish of ‘the Mourinho Season’. It was a project that got him galvanized and ready to stoke the fires to build a blazing inferno — just as he did at Juventus a few years prior. Now, he’s ready to tackle his next big project, wherever it may be.

“I’d love to know too! I really don’t know at the moment. I’ll go to a team with a project that convinces me.”

For now, Conte remains in Cobham, where he lives with his wife and daughter, who joined him after his first twelve months at Chelsea. A coach’s life can be hard in that respect, constantly moving around, but they seem to be making the most of it, experiencing different cultures and languages first-hand.

“I am still living in London, as we wanted to give our little girl the opportunity to learn English. We live in Cobham, in the countryside near Chelsea’s training ground, so there isn’t much to do. I spend a lot of my time on the couch watching matches and TV shows.”

-Antonio Conte; source: Sky Italia via Football Italia

But he’s ready to get up off the couch and get back to work.