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Antonio Conte’s Reshuffle Gives Confidence for His Chelsea Future
- Updated: October 2, 2016
Antonio Conte answered his critics on Saturday.
The naysayers will point to a 2-0 victory over Hull City being par for the course for a Chelsea manager, but it was the circumstances surrounding the result that would have left Blues supporters feeling more positive for where the club is headed.
If August delivered Chelsea a false dawn in some respects—Conte’s side won all four of their games in all competitions—then September was a more sobering experience.
Chelsea picked up just one point in the Premier League, losing to rivals Liverpool and Arsenal on successive weekends. Those defeats were confirmation that Conte’s attempts to transform Chelsea are going to take much longer than the few months he has been in charge.
The same issues that haunted Chelsea last season have come back strongly, and the Italian has cut a frustrated figure as he searches for the formula to turn the tide.
Part of Chelsea’s demise in 2015/16 was a refusal to adjust the team’s system. Bosses Jose Mourinho and Guus Hiddink stuck to a rigid 4-2-3-1 that had become pedestrian; worse still, it was predictable, and every week opponents knew what they would get from Chelsea.
Normally, soap operas are tasked with throwing up narratives that keep us guessing, but it was never the case with Chelsea. Every seven days or so, the headlines could have been written before the results that eventually spelled the end for Mourinho’s second coming.
First half had Everything But The Goal. In second, Costa was Kingmaker. But first win in four means it’s Happy Hour again for Conte in Hull.
— Dan Levene (@danlevene) October 1, 2016
Just two months into this campaign, Conte is showing a desire to avoid those issues, which was especially evident at the KCOM Stadium. Gone was the 4-1-4-1 that had been picked off by Arsenal and Liverpool, replaced with a 3-4-3 system in an attempt to give Chelsea more strength in midfield and balance at the back.
It meant Victor Moses—making his first Premier League start for the club since May 2013—and Marcos Alonso played wing-back roles; Nemanja Matic and N’Golo Kante were the midfield enforcers who allowed Willian and Eden Hazard to support Diego Costa more effectively.
If we look at the stats, they can be manipulated to suggest it was perfection. Willian and Costa scored the goals to outline Chelsea’s attacking prowess, while a clean sheet hints at a stronger rearguard.
Amazing tactical move from Conte to get Matic and Kante forward more often, Hull struggled to track runners down the middle. #CFC #Chelsea
— Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) October 1, 2016
It …
