暴风体育特约记者发自伦敦斯坦福桥球场
一个月前参加FIFA年度颁奖典礼时，我有幸和2016年度最佳教练克劳迪奥·拉捏利聊上了几句。和大部分球迷一样，我也对他在莱斯特的成功秘笈心存好奇。老头一开始显得有些拘束，净唠叨一些报纸上司空见惯的陈词滥调。他渐入佳境，话题开始涉及更衣室中的化学反应和总在关键时刻出现的好运。而后，他的一段话出乎我的意料。
“我猜意大利教练的身份也有利于我取得成功。意大利教练的优势在于：我们的联赛是一座学不见底的大学，有着太多战术学派。因此每场比赛前后，你都需要绞尽脑汁尝试解决新的学术难题。很多时候就连比赛中间，你也要随时应对突发新状况。继而想出新计谋，让你的对手束手无策。”
切尔西目前已经在斯坦福桥取得11连胜，这赛季则是赢下了15个主场比赛中的14场
几乎所有迹象表明，继拉捏利上赛季创造奇迹后，2017年的英超奖杯将会最终归属另一名意大利教头。3比1战胜阿森纳后，孔蒂的切尔西已经在积分榜上一骑绝尘。
在争冠六强中，他们的表现最稳定。除了赛季前段的不适应，变阵3中卫后的切尔西几乎没有犯过错误——这与上赛季莱斯特城的夺冠极为相似。
尽管蓝军称雄远谈不上奇迹，但孔蒂对切尔西的贡献，丝毫不亚于拉捏利对莱斯特的影响。初到斯坦福桥时，切尔西是一盘散沙——穆里尼奥在更衣室留下的烂摊子，希丁克并没有改善多少，20年来的最差战绩就是证据。
传统逻辑上，新教练入主后，一定会努力搜罗新鲜血液，继而彻底改造球队，但孔蒂却截然相反。他展现出了属于意大利教练的才智——在原材料的基础上，进行修补和改良。从某种程度上讲，意大利教练们天生就是“补锅匠”——绝非拉捏利专利。
他需要4名新援来修补原本的战术漏洞，每一个都堪称神来之笔。战术意义最重要的，毫无疑问是莱斯特城中场坎特。法国人是目前世上少有的工兵型后腰，兼具速度与横向拦截——每一个球队都需要坎特（孔蒂语）。
坎特在球场上的覆盖面积
马尔克斯·阿隆索是另一笔神奇的签约。老实说，签约时没有人看好他在蓝军的发展，自以为是的观察家们坚信他只不过是一名优质的替补。但迄今为止，他已在19场比赛中攻入4球，包括昨天中午对阿森纳的那粒首开纪录——对于一名边后卫而言，他的表现堪称全能。
第三笔签约是回购旧将大卫·鲁伊兹。在孔蒂看来，热爱上抢和参与进攻的大卫·鲁伊兹并不是隐患，相反他的全面更有利于三后卫体系的执行。如今，巴西人被调教成了世界最佳中卫；至于第四笔签约，则是为未来考虑，事实证明在迭戈·科斯塔闹情绪的情况下，巴舒亚伊能立刻顶上。
这些新援固然重要，但孔蒂最成功的用人之策，在于激活旧将。在切尔西，他要做的第一件事就是缝合更衣室裂缝。这点拉捏利也深有体会，在意大利教练看来，刻意营造和谐是西欧教练的通病，球员们就应该用最舒服的方式展现自己的天赋和个性，没必要伪装。至于凝聚力，意大利人秉持的逻辑是：与其一同做一百件好事，不如一起做一件坏事。举个例子，拉捏利透露说：“比如一杯可乐或者一杯啤酒，有利于在赛后补充水分。但不能太多，只能一杯。”
我相信孔蒂一定也在更衣室内使用了这套心术。事实证明，意大利套路是有效的。球队核心阿扎尔上赛季43场比赛仅攻入6球，但本赛季26场比赛已完成10次破门，其中包括昨天中午那粒梅西式的一条龙；迭戈·科斯塔尽管一直吵着闹着要去中超，但仍然在25场比赛中奉献15粒进球；由库尔图瓦、加里·卡希尔和阿兹皮利奎塔组成的防线，至今只丢球17粒，而上赛季他们的丢球总数高达53次。
孔蒂的3-4-3体系目前是无解的
当然意大利教练的战术能力，也是老生常谈的话题。孔蒂的3-4-3从意甲席卷而来，让整个英超震颤。这套战术讲究高位逼抢和高效反击，使得每一名切尔西球员都能发挥出最大作用。谁都无法忘记他们4比0横扫曼联，以及3比1击倒曼城的经典反击战。
至于孔蒂的手下败将——穆里尼奥和瓜迪奥拉，他们所欠缺的不是聪明才智，而是——常识（拉捏利语）。
和瓜迪奥拉不同，孔蒂从不会逼迫球员们在短时间接受一套复杂的新体系；与穆里尼奥不同，他不需要用打破纪录的大手笔来增加球队实力。和意大利老乡拉捏利一样，孔蒂绝不会逆道而行，更多时候是顺势而为：他深知球队的力量来自俱乐部本身，只要战术得体，每名球员踢得舒服，所有矛盾都会迎刃而解。
在欧洲教练届，意大利主帅是战术和情商的高手。他们的战术在于激发个人，他们的情商则是包容个性。从宏观角度说，他们顺应天性，尊重自然原则。在自恃过高的英超，孔蒂和拉捏利们开辟出了一条属于意大利教练的取胜之道。
Martin del Palacio：欧洲著名体育媒体人，FIFA记者，《世界足球》、《四四二》、《体育画报》、《踢球者》特约足球评论员。
英文原作赏析：
The Italian Job
A month ago, at the end of the FIFA The Best Awards Gala, I asked Claudio Ranieri, The Best Coach of 2016, what were his secrets to become champion with Leicester. He started by telling me the usual, about the chemistry in the dressing room and also that luck that had accompanied them at specific times, but later, he added something I didn’t expect.
"I guess it helps that I'm an Italian coach, too. Italian coaches have an advantage over the rest: our league is a continuous university, with different tactical systems. In consequence you have to train your mind to solve problems that arrive match after match, during a match there are always new situations that you have to be ready to solve and new situations that you have to propose to t surprise your rival ".
Everything seems to indicate that, after Ranieri's triumph last year, it will be another Italian coach who will lift the Premier League trophy in 2017. Having defeated Arsenal 3-1 yesterday, Antonio Conte's Chelsea seems to have got un unreachable lead at the top of the table.
And it’s not only the 9-point gap over second-place Tottenham, but the ease with which they have managed to open that gap. While all other Top 6 opponents have had ups and downs, the Blues have had an enviable solidity almost since the beginning of the league.
Although it cannot be qualified as a miracle like Leicester’s, after what he has done this season Conte doesn’t have anything to envy his compatriot. When he arrived at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea were a real mess. After a catastrophic start last season with Jose Mourinho, who ended up in a generalized revolt in the dressing room, the team could not recover with Guus Hiddink, and finished in tenth place, their worst position in the league of the last twenty years.
Logic would indicate that any new coach would have sought to find some of the best players in the world and change the team completely, but Conte did the opposite. With the typical intelligence of the Italian managers, he understood that the raw material was already in the squad and that he only needed to prop up it with a few good signings. Italian coaches are born to be Tinkerman, to some extent.
Thus, he got only four players, but they all have made a big difference. The most important has been, without a doubt, N'Golo Kanté. The French midfielder had been the key factor in the Leicester title the previous season, and very few players in the world can match him in speed and ball recovery ability, which he has showcased at Chelsea match after match.
He also signed Marcos Alonso, a left-back who had had a very good season at Fiorentina, but nothing seemed to indicate that it would be as important for Conte as he has been. Absolute starter, he has already scored 4 goals in 19 games, including the first one against Arsenal in a header that look much more English than his real Spanish nationality.
The third reinforcement, David Luiz, returned after having a stint of ups and downs with Paris Saint-Germain, but under the guidance of Conte has regained the level that had made him be considered one of the best central defenders in the world. The fourth, Michy Batshuayi, was a signing for the future, and he has demonstrated his talent in the Cup and the League Cup.
The most important thing, however, were not the signings but the players that were already there. Since arriving, Conte understood that he had to recover the dressing room that Mourinho and Hiddink had lost. And for that, as Ranieri before him, he used common sense. His idea was that the players should feel comfortable to be able to showcase their talent and for this he allowed them things that would have been unthinkable the previous season. An example? The Italian coach explains: "a Coca Cola, or a beer, helps to hydrate after the effort of a match. But just one. "
The players have paid by elevating their level tremendously compared to the previous year. Team star Eden Hazard had scored 6 goals in 43 games last season, he now has 10 in 26, including an absolute cracker that reminded of Lionel Messi in yesterday’s match. Diego Costa, despite not having the best relationship with Conte, has scored 15 goals in 25 games, one more than during the whole last year, and Thibaut Courtois, Gary Cahill and César Azpilicueta form the core of a defence that has received only 17 goals, against 53 of 2015/2016.
Of course, there are tactical explanations, as there are always with the Italian managers. His 3-4-3, inherited from his stage at Juventus, has taken the Premier by storm and brought out the best of his players. The pressing is tireless and the counterattacks, lethal. It’s impossible to forget the 4-0 thrashing of Manchester United, with only 43.9% possession, or the 3-1 to Manchester City with three goals scored in almost identical counterattacks.
But it would be absurd to reduce Conte's influence only to the x's and o's on the chalkboard. The key to the success of the Blue skipper in his first season with the team is precisely what so far two much more famous coaches in similar conditions, Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola have lacked: common sense.
Unlike Pep, he has not tried to force his players to employ a terribly complicated system after only a few weeks in office. Unlike Mourinho, he did not have to break the transfer record fee to make his team stronger. Like Ranieri before him, Antonio Conte understood that the most important thing in a team are the players, and that the system doesn’t matter as long as there is talent and the players are convinced of the way they play.
Pragmatic and intelligent, worthy representative of that "continuous university" from where the best Italian technicians come out.
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