Antonio Conte reveals how Chelsea captain made him more stubborn with his tactics

Antonio Conte is one of the most dogmatic managers in the game, sticking to his principles, systems and demands, whether his players are amenable to them or not. However, he compromised on his beliefs at one point in his career at the request of John Terry, and the result was disastrous, leading Conte to dig deeper in his heels. 

The Italian tactician was the Chelsea boss from 2016-2018. He spent two seasons in charge, one dominant 93-point league-winning campaign in which he led the club to match Arsenal's record of 13 successive victories—the Gunners set the record in 2002. The other, however, they finished 5th, after he fell out with key players like Diego Costa. 

In a conversation with Corriere della Sera, Conte, revered for his military-esque training methods, revealed that the magic of the first season might not have happened had he not quickly reverted to his trusted method after Terry tried to make him water down his style. 

"One time, the Chelsea captain [Terry] came to me to ask to slow down the pace (of training), to do fewer video sessions,” Conte said, per Goal. 

“I agreed, mainly out of respect to their culture, their different way of approaching football. When you're in a different country, you have to be careful to not cause too much upset. 

“Well, we lost two games in a row, and I risked being sacked. Since then, I always think that if I have to 'die' as a result of the choices that have been made, I have to do it my way, and not in the hands of others. 

“This is the way. 'Trust the process', as they say in England. And when I think back to how tough training was, I smile. Zidane and Del Piero trained much harder. Today, we do about a third of what we used to do. 

“The work has to be linked to the results on the pitch. I've coached teams where, after a little while, the players themselves began to identify dangerous situations. For me, that means that we've achieved the right result.”

It is highly likely that the games Conte was referring to were the defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal, which came in his 6th and 7th game in charge. 

It was a period in which they failed to pick up a victory in three matches, as it began with a draw to Swansea. However, after reverting to his trusted method, Chelsea went on a historic 13-match winning run.