Chronicle EditorLONDON. – What a difference a year makes. Exactly 12 months ago, Chelsea were in meltdown — defeated by Leicester, a point off the relegation places and the players accused of “betrayal” by manager Jose Mourinho.Within days, they had sacked Mourinho for the second time and Guus Hiddink was again summoned to try to bring some sense to Stamford Bridge.
Fast-forward a year from those dog days of mid-December 2015 and you find Chelsea on a 10-game winning run in the English Premier League, six points clear at top of the table so certain to be top at Christmas and on course for another title.
The same Chelsea, yet a different Chelsea.
Since being installed at Mourinho’s permanent successor in the summer, Antonio Conte has overseen a dramatic turnaround aided by £120million of transfer spending on players including N’Golo Kante, David Luiz and Marcos Alonso.
The Italian’s hyperactive touchline antics may have infuriated rival managers but after hitting a rocky match following a good start to the season, his training ground work has re-invigorated a group of players — some of whom appeared to have no future at the club.
The 3-4-3 system adopted by Conte in the wake of the heavy defeat by Arsenal in last September was the catalyst for the current success.
And Chelsea’s decision to appoint Conte as manager is already looking like some sort of light bulb moment.
Certainly he has shown himself to be one step cleverer than inventor Thomas Edison with the simple philosophy he has brought to Stamford Bridge, very much in line with the famous quote, “Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.”
The real genius is, though, that Antonio Conte has not even been the one doing the perspiring and he will continue to demand his players shed blood, sweat and tears for him until the last kick of the season.
When 10 out of 10 is not good enough – Chelsea’s current run of wins in the English Premier League – Crystal Palace, the next potential victims today, know there will be no respite despite a six-point gap at the top of the table. Marcus Alonso, for one, is completely on message. “10 out of 10 is amazing,” he said.
“The team is doing great since I came. Ten wins and eight clean sheets says a lot about how the team is putting everything in and training hard during the week.
“And after 10 wins out of 10, we are getting used to it. We don’t celebrate like we used to.
“But it is easy to work during the week if you are winning. We have got to keep working hard to keep this atmosphere in the dressing room.” – The Mirror.
Online Reporter