Antonio Conte would be the perfect replacement of Julen Lopetegui

After a series of pathetic and abysmal results, Julen Lopetegui’s future has come under probe from just four months since his appointment in June.

Real Madrid suffered a major setback when Zinedine Zidane left his managerial role just three days after guiding the Whites to a third successive UEFA Champions League title. Nearly three weeks after his resignation, there was another surprise in the Spanish capital after Florentino Perez appointed Julen Lopetegui to replace the Frenchman.

A lot of Real Madrid’s fans were aware that under the newly appointed boss there would be a different and unique identity to their team, which needed to perform well in the domestic competitions as well. But unfortunately, Julen Lopetegui has not been able to land successful results after employing a style of passing and possession based play that is rather unsuitable for Real Madrid.

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The Whites’ last win and goal across all competitions came on September 22 against Espanyol and since then, they have gone without scoring and winning for four successive matches. At a club where the standards are sky-high, Julen Lopetegui’s job has come under scrutiny, with Florentino Perez pressurizing on him to deliver the results or face the sack.

The Whites head into a defining week for the 52-year-old, at the end of which he will face his biggest test of the domestic season- the Clasico at Camp Nou. It has been widely speculated that a loss against Madrid’s most bitter rivals could spell the end of the manager’s short lived career in Spain.

Barcelona have also endured a rough start to La Liga Santander and are just one point better of Real Madrid. But La Liga expert Guillem Balague is of the opinion that El Clasico could be a massive turning point for Julen Lopetegui, and a win could even salvage his job for the next few months.

“Lopetegui has until the Clasico against Barcelona, which is three games, to show that he is the man for the job,” said Balague. “Meanwhile, they are looking around at people such as Antonio Conte to see if his contract situation at Chelsea has been completely resolved. If you doubt that the man in charge should be continuing, that is what Real Madrid do. There is nobody from within, like previously when Zinedine Zidane was the solution. Lopetegui and some of the players feel it is just a blip and they can come out of it. The board is not so sure.”

Real Madrid will be hoping that Antonio Conte gets his contract situation sorted out at Chelsea soon. The Italian manager was sacked by Chelsea after two years at the helm but the club is yet to pay him the due compensation of 9 million pounds. And Conte fears that signing for any other club before getting the matter settled will harm his bid to claim the money. As it is, he is planning to take legal action against Roman Abramovich and his club.

Nevertheless, Antonio Conte would be the perfect fit for Real Madrid, who need someone of an attacking mind. While Julen Lopetegui does insist on his team going forward, his playing style prohibits the Real Madrid players from doing so. In contrast, Antonio Conte has a much direct style and that will benefit Real Madrid who have been playing on the counter attack and by crosses for decades now.

In addition to that, the former Italy boss has a very cheerful personality which the current Real Madrid manager does not seem to have. Real Madrid’s dressing room will surely be able to welcome Conte warmly and the Italian manager will support his players through thick and thin. But what’s more special about him is his ability to deliver the results.

In his first season with Chelsea, Antonio Conte did not need too many signings but made sure that N’Golo Kante and Marcos Alonso, who were new recruits fitted perfectly into his system. Plus, he made a change in his formation in the middle of the season to go from a 4-3-3 to a 3-4-3 after seeing the attacking spark of his full backs in particular, that proved to be a huge tactical masterclass and the former Italy coach guided the Blues to the Premier League trophy.

Unfortunately, the board at west London did not support him with the correct signings and also sold Nemanja Matic against the manager’s wishes ahead of his second season, which eventually led to a bad defence of their title, which Manchester City claimed with unassailable margins. Chelsea’s run in the Champions League was halted by Barcelona in the round of 16, while they were kicked out of the Carabao Cup in the semi-finals by Arsenal.  An FA Cup was not sufficient for Conte to keep his job, and he was sacked in July ahead of Chelsea’s pre-season tours and replaced by Maurizio Sarri.

With Real Madrid reportedly knocking on his door, Antonio Conte should pack his bags and make way to Spain’s capital. If he can utilize this squad and request Florentino Perez to make a few Galactico signings, then Real Madrid’s fan community and in particular the board of directors could be in for a real treat. If not Conte, who do you think is the perfect coach to get the best out of Real Madrid?