IThere isn’t much space in the venerable Stamford Bridge stadium in London’s Fulham district. This applies both outside and inside. A railway line directly behind the grandstand and buildings on the other sides impose narrow limits on planned expansion, conversion or new construction. And at the stadium, which opened in 1877 and has undergone several refurbishments since, everyone has to huddle together for Chelsea Football Club games. The same goes for the players and coaches. There is not enough space on Fulham Road as in the new arenas.
The places for the substitute players and supervisors are narrow and let into the spectator stand. So you get closer than is good for some people. This also and above all applies to the trainers, whose coaching zones are in theory delimited, but who sometimes see these white lines on the pitch as obstacles that are easy to cross in the heat of the moment. And so it doesn’t just come to the exchange of verbal poison darts, from time to time the trainers also go into a direct duel with the unwelcome neighbor for a limited time.
The feud between José Mourinho, “The Special One” during his second spell at Chelsea, and Arsène Wenger, coach at city rivals Arsenal, is legendary. She had a long prelude, and in October 2014 the argument broke out in front of the fans in the stadium and for millions of TV viewers. After a violent foul on the sidelines, both grumbled to themselves before they got closer. Wenger grumbled towards Mourinho, who grumbled back, indicated that the colleague should leave, Wenger pushed, Mourinho pushed back – it was like in the schoolyard.
The tussle between the grey-haired football coaches had at least a little style at the time. Both stood in front of each other in suits, Wenger’s red tie flew wildly in his attack on Mourinho before the fourth official separated the quarrel and the referee spoke a warning. That calmed the situation only temporarily. The age-old controversy as to who actually started it was lively debated. Wenger is no longer a coach, Mourinho tries his polemics sometimes more, sometimes less successfully in Italy.
From there Antonio Conte came to England. Between 2016 and 2018 he coached Chelsea FC, returned home and has been back on the island at Tottenham Hotspur for a little over a year. So he knows his way around Stamford Bridge and the cramped conditions there, which become a problem when things get really emotional. It was the same late Sunday afternoon. Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea met Conte’s Tottenham. Kalidou Koulibaly scored in the 19th minute to make it 1-0 for Chelsea, former Bayern professional Pierre Emile Højbjerg made it 1-1 (68th). So far, so normal.
When Reece James gave Chelsea the lead again in the 77th minute, Tuchel jubilantly jumped and sprinted down the sideline – right through Conte’s field of vision. But the final punchline on the lawn was to follow. In the sixth minute of stoppage time, Harry Kane equalized for Spurs – 2-2. A little later it was over, but then it really started. Traditionally, Premier League coaches shake hands first after the game. That’s how it seemed with Tuchel and Conte. Both stretched out their hands and walked past each other, but didn’t break away from each other.
