Despite his FA Cup final success, it still seems inevitable that Antonio Conte is destined to be relived of his managerial duties at Chelsea Football Club.

A front runner for the Italian’s job could be former FC Barcelona boss Luis Enrique.

The Spaniard has taken the last year off, after spending three years at the Camp Nou.

He enjoyed a 76% win rate with the Catalan giants and helped them to two La Liga titles, a Champions League triumph, three Copa del Rey wins and a FIFA World Club Cup.

Enrique was the manager that seemed to get the most out of the MSN (Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar) frontline. A times they were unplayable. Although it should be noted that the gaffer didn’t always see eye to eye with his troops.

At Barca, Enrique had the balls to change things tactically.

It wasn’t always appreciated but ultimately it brought glory back to Barcelona and they needed to step away from the full 1oo% tiki-taka style that had worked previously but was dated by the time Enrique arrived in 2014.

Luis likes a fast attacking policy. While possession was still important, it wasn’t as vital to his system as it was under Pep Guardiola. It was basically about getting the ball to one of the front three as fast and as efficiently as possible.

Instead of keep ball, Barca were now more suited to a souped-up counter attack play and it worked wonders.

That kind of system could do wonders for Chelsea and it might bring an exciting  brand of football that might keep owner Roman Abramovich happy as long as the Russian can re-enter the UK and trophies can follow Enrique to South West London.

An attack-minded philosophy could also see Eden Hazard more inclined to stay at The Bridge.

The approach of getting the forwards involved in dangerous positions as soon as possible, could get the most out of Hazard, Pedro, Willian and even Alvaro Morata.

The Spanish hitman Morata didn’t enjoy the best of debut seasons but he showed enough to suggest if he  can regain his confidence then he’ll score goals in the English Premier League. Working under the fellow Spaniard could really boost the twenty-five year old’s Chelsea career, in my opinion.

Defenders like Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen and David Luiz would also flourish under Enrique as they could come out of the back with the ball and provide dangerous passes for a fluid, speedy front three.

You’d also imagine that Chelsea would offer the new manager a healthy wage packet and a strong transfer budget that would appeal to the coach.

I think a move to England and pitting his wits against some of the best managers in the world would also attract Luis Enrique. I have a feeling that he’d love to go head to head with Guardiola, as he’s been somewhat in his shadow since they both became bosses.

Although they both have a strong respect for one another, with Pep saying this about his former teammate:

“Luis Enrique is one of the best, best, best managers. I know him very well. He is a friend of mine. I know he can do whatever he wants”

Chelsea and Enrique could be a marriage made in heaven. If The Blues do decide yet again to go hunting for a new manager yet again this summer.

Posted on May 21st, 2018 by scott
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