After winning the Scudetto, Conte dedicated it to himself. I'm pretty sure that he and his hair really think they are great. But what did he actually do? He took a team of far more expensive players, that had fallen one point short of the Scudetto and lost the Europa League final last year. That strengthened team this season crashed out of the Champions League in the beginning of December in the group stage, thus played fewer games and traveled far less than any of the other top four teams, and managed to not choke to hang on for the Scudetto. Does he deserve all of the credit he gives himself, or did a coach like Pioli do far more with far more adversity, younger and less experienced players, as well as coming out of seven years with no Champions League? Who did it better?
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| One of these men is not like the other |
Let's start with Conte, or he'll start screaming at us and whining like a toddler with a creepy voice. He is a coach who has won Serie B, the Premier League and FA Cup, two Supercoppas, and has now won Serie A four times, with two different teams. Although to be fair, all he had to do was show up for the three Juve titles, because no one else could compete those years. Also, no one has completed the wiretap and obstruction of justice investigation for this year, either. Yet everything he does seems to be trying to compensate for being short and having no hair. He only coaches clubs who will pay him exorbitant wages, where the team is ready made and prepared to win for him, clubs who promise to spend more on players than he did on his hair transplants.
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| (who is going to tell him that he doesn't get to keep the trophy?) |
Here are Conte's stats:
Number of years coaching: 15
Salary: €12 million/year
Average age of squad: 28.2 years old
Inter's wagebill: €149 million/year
Number of European matches played: 6
Number of weeks in 1st place: 17
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| You gotta protect that hair, it cost him some serious cash |
Meanwhile, Pioli has only ever won a U17 title in his career, but at least he is honest about his hair. He doesn't scream at refs to the point of getting bans, and he has never been banned or even investigated for matchfixing in his coaching career like his city counterpart this past season. However, at Fiorentina, he did courageously lead his team through the tragic passing of their team captain on the morning of a game. This season, he coached Milan in the Europa League well into March of this year, which caused more fatigue and injuries due to playing more games and traveling more. When injuries hit and his young squad were struggling, he personally inspired them to do more than they were meant to on paper. He built the heart and soul of this young team, created a family, and inspired them to make the dream of Champions League qualification happen after everything that happened this year.
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| Game face |
Here are Pioli's stats:
Number of years coaching: 18
Salary: €2 million/year
Average age of squad: 24.5 years old
Team's wagebill: €90 million/year
Number of European matches played: 13
Number of weeks in 1st place: 18
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| Pioli's on fire |
The bottom line is that Pioli did so much more with less. Less money, less expensive players, younger players, more injuries, more games. Sure, Conte got his self-dedicated Scudetto trophy, but his team crashed out of the Champions League early, costing the club millions of Euros. Also, Pioli still has his job, whereas Conte is desperately trying to find a club that will pay him six times as much as Pioli and also spend enough to set his team up to win easily.
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| He's just happy for his boys |
Who did it better? All bias aside, the data shows that Pioli absolutely did. A Scudetto isn't as shiny if you rode in first class to get it while other people took the train... and stole your thunder.
This post inspired by the music of Carly Simon's "Nobody Does it Better" from The Spy Who Loved Me