Chelsea have had six Italian managers, but who was your favourite?
On April 4 2016, Chelsea announced that Antonio Conte was to become their new manager, signing a three-year contract.
Conte arrived after Guus Hiddink’s disappointing second stint at the club and certainty acclimatised to life in England quickly, winning the Premier League in his first season with a then record 30 wins, a feat since trumped by Manchester City.
Conte would not make it beyond the next season - in which he won the FA Cup. He was eventually replaced by another Italian, Maurizio Sarri.
Chelsea have in their history had six Italian managers take charge of the club, but the question remains: Who was your favourite?
Here is a list of Chelsea’s Italian coaches throughout the years…
Gianluca Vialli
We start with Gianluca Vialli, who became Chelsea manager in February 1998. Vialli joined the club in 1996 as a player, winning the FA Cup in his first season, Ruud Gullit the man in charge.
Gullit was sacked in 1998, however, Vialli taking over as player-manager. Chelsea went on to win both the League Cup and the European Cup Winners Cup, also finishing fourth in the Premier League.
After winning five trophies and becoming Chelsea’s most successful manager to date, Vialli was sacked just five games into the 2000-01 season after falling out with a number of players at the club.
Claudio Ranieri
Ranieri’s four-year period in charge of Chelsea was a significant one for a number of reasons.
The Italian was responsible for the signing of Frank Lampard and was also the man in charge as Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003.
Ranieri spent £120m on players the following summer on the likes of Claude Makelele, Herman Crespo, Juan Sebastian Veron and Joe Cole.
Chelsea showed significant improvements and – although never winning the league under Ranieri – he provided the building blocks for Jose Mourinho’s subsequent and highly successful reign.
Carlo Ancelotti
Carlo Ancelotti became the fourth Chelsea manager in 21 months when he arrived in 2009.
The Italian won the Premier League in his first campaign, beating Manchester United to the title by a single point, becoming the first team in the division’s history to score over 100 goals. They also beat Portsmouth to secure the FA Cup trophy and an emphatic debut-season double.
Despite the £50m January acquisition of Fernando Torres the following season, Chelsea failed to win any silverware, Ancelotti sacked just two hours after their final game defeat to Everton. Harsh.
Roberto Di Matteo
Former player and previously assistant manager Di Matteo was handed the caretaker job at Chelsea after Andre Villas Boas was sacked in March 2012.
Di Matteo – against all the odds – guided Chelsea to both FA Cup and Champions League glory, defeating Liverpool and Bayern Munich respectively.
Their penalty shootout victory over the German giants surely goes down as one of the most memorable moments in the club’s illustrious history.
Despite being named permanent manager the following season, he was soon replaced by Rafael Benitez, who took over as interim manager in November 2013.
Antonio Conte
We discussed Conte’s short but successful spell in charge of Chelsea above but here are two more quick stats.
The Italian recorded a club record 13 straight consecutive Premier League wins from October 30 to December 31 in 2016.
He also averaged 2.14 Premier League points during his tenure, only Pep Guardiola (2.34) and Sir Alex Ferguson (2.16) averaging more among managers with at least 10 games in the competition.
Maurizio Sarri
Finally we have Maurizio Sarri, who replaced Conte just a day after his departure.
The former Napoli boss – known for his tactical nous – went on to lose in both the Community Shield and League Cup to Manchester City, but did emphatically beat Arsenal in the Europa League final.
The Italian lasted just one season, however, Chelsea announcing he was to join Juventus at the end of the season.
Have your say!
Who was your favourite of Chelsea's Italian managers?
