SOS - Save our seasons

Matt Morley 5 years ago 5.6k
Both Mourinho and Conte are looking to seal silverware on Saturday.

Saturday's FA Cup final gives both Chelsea and Manchester United opportunities to end their seasons on a high, something that arguably both clubs are in need of.

On the face of it, there is an argument that the result of the game is irrelevant to 'Blues' boss Antonio Conte, with all evidence pointing to the face that he will no longer be Chelsea manager next season regardless of the result at the home of English football.

However, his comments pre-match were clear: he is a winner and he is only thinking about Saturday's game.

Make no bones about it, this season will have hurt the Italian. Renowned for being a fierce competitor, something that only served to stoke the fire during the well-publicised war of words between himself and Jose Mourinho, a fifth-placed finish having been champions only a year ago will not have gone down well with the former Juventus boss and Saturday's clash is perhaps the last chance he will ever have at the club to make amends.

Chelsea failed to top the Premier League table for a single day throughout the season, meaning that Huddersfield statistically put up a better tittle fight that the 'Blues', who will now suffer the ignominy of playing Europa League football next season, though a piece of silverware to end the campaign may just help to lift the gloom ever so slightly at Stamford Bridge.

Meanwhile, the importance of the occasion will certainly not be lost on Manchester United either.

Aside from it being an opportunity for Mourinho to get one over on Conte, with his comments about the animosity between the pair all being in the past failing to entirely convince, the match provides the Portuguese with another opportunity to demonstrate the one thing he has always understood better than any other manager - the importance of winning trophies.

You need only look back as far as last season to see Mourinho's passion for silverware and the effect it has, with the experienced boss using every opportunity to point out how his side won three trophies (the Community Shield, the EFL Cup and the Europa League) to mask their own fifth-placed finish.

Whatsmore, another cup victory would see Mourinho side take a further step forward in his attempt to rebuild a winning mentalty at Old Trafford, something he alluded to when bringing in "serial winner" Alexis Sanchez in January.

Finally, there is no doubt that United fans everywhere would use a victory to remind noisy neighbours Manchester City that despite their record-breaking season, the 'Citizens' would only have ended the season with one more addition to their trophy cabinet (Carabao Cup and Premier League) than the 'Red Devils' and what is football really about if not bragging rights?

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