By Daily Sports on July 25, 2017

Last week, outgoing Chelsea's striker showed a lack of class and grace on Instagram by posting a sarcastic message to his teammate and friend Cesc Fabregas and asking him to ‘give Conte a hug’. He, of course was referring to the Chelsea Coach, Antonio Conte who he has had a soured relationship with since January when the Spanish international tried to force a move to China.

The Instagram episode invites curiosity about the matter of hugging and what it has to do with Conte and his relationship with his players. Last season Conte wowed Chelsea fans with his mad style of celebrations and one of his favourite actions after a big win is to give his players a hug. Now could it be that there's something risky about this behaviour? Could Conte have been letting his guard down in momentary shows of post-match excitement? Maybe more importantly, could there be something about the way Conte hugged his players that is symptomatic of the changing role of players and coaches relationship in a modern day football club, one that sees a player now having more of an alpha image while the coach has been reduced to little more than a compliant child.

Here are photos from last year when Chelsea secured a big away win over Southampton in October. Immediately after the game, a very relieved Conte made a beeline for his striker Costa who had delivered the goods on that day and the sight of the two of them together was awkward even in its brilliance.

Body language expert, Judi James offered an intriguing analysis of this hug last year for the Daily Mirror and explains what it tells us of the relationship of the two men, at least when the going was good between them.

"These poses suggest the roles of player and manager have been reversed, in terms of status and pecking order.

"Antonio, the supposed alpha male in the relationship, has been so overwhelmed by the win that he's adopted the role of compliant child. It's a very lop-sided embrace, with Diego keen to detach while his boss hangs on to him like an over-emotional toddler."

Of the first shot in the far left, James says "Antonio grasps his player around the torso and presses his face into his chest with a bizarre expression of passion on his face. Diego's expression is far more adult and there's no sign of a colluding hug as his arm is held out and his chin remains raised."

The body language expert said of the second and third shots: "This pose has now converted to pure parent and needy child. Antonio now has both arms around his player's torso. Diego meanwhile has the look of a man who hopes he can make it back to the dressing room without anyone spotting the public display of affection."

Just after the third shot Diego is forced to perform the pat on the back, a gesture of comfort that is actually a signal to 'break'. "From the look on Antonio's face, he's in no rush to detach - but Diego is obviously made of more stoic stuff. A quick handshake might have gone down better."

James concluded by saying: "Celebration rituals are vital to a team's success on the pitch. The adrenalin rush of the reward activities after a victory can motivate them onwards and upwards. However, by taking things a step too far with these super-hugs, Antonio could actually risk de-motivating his players, rather than spurring them on to greater things."

Now, could this kind of hug be a contributing factor in Costa losing his respect for Conte? Could it be something else that we probably may not be aware of? We may never know conclusively. The fact, however, is that Chelsea players were motivated enough to go on to win the premiership last season. The question may be whether on the longer run, they could lose a little bit more respect for their manager and whether more could be encouraged by Conte's hyper excitable behaviour to show the kind of classlessness that Athletico Madrid bound Diego Costa exhibited about his manager on Instagram recently.

What is clearer is that players have much more powers than they used to in the world of today's football and this hug can be seen as a metaphor for that.

Source Daily Sports

Posted July 25, 2017

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