‘Conte exorcised Jose ghost’

Sky Sports’ Niall Quinn dissects Chelsea’s win over Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United and says the Antonio Conte era at Stamford Bridge has well and truly begun.

In football you don’t always get what you want but sometimes you get what you need.

A few weeks ago Chelsea looked as if they were in serious trouble having been turned over by Liverpool and Arsenal in the space of eight days. When Chelsea beat Leicester in between those defeats we only talked about that result as a sign of how quickly Leicester had fallen.

Whispers went around that Roman Abramovich was feeling trigger-happy again and that Antonio Conte was in the crosshairs.

The rumours of Conte’s imminent demise were no doubt greatly exaggerated but that’s the Premier League. Two bad results in eight days create rumours. Rumours create pressure. Pressure creates crises.

On Super Sunday, Antonio Conte sorted out several ‘crises’ in one game of 90 minutes.Before kick-off Conte was one of a group of Premier League managers being haunted by the ghost of a predecessor. That the predecessor was just up the touchline prowling like a grey wolf didn’t help. We were wondering if the next addition to Chelsea’s backroom might be an exorcist.

No need as it turned out.

Having parked the bus at Anfield last Monday night Manchester United gave an early and comical hint that they had actually left the bus where they parked it. The slapstick defending that let Pedro in for a goal after 30 seconds wasn’t Conte’s worry. Next time he looked up the line the grey wolf looked old and sheepish.

Four months into their new jobs the Conte era has definitely begun at Chelsea. Conte has ended up, through circumstance, with a team that looks nothing like what Jose Mourinho left behind.

Meanwhile, Manchester United are still just the backdrop for the long-running soap opera that is Jose Mourinho.

Sunday was the third game in succession that Antonio Conte has deployed the 3-4-3 formation that he used so well during his time at Juventus. At first glance Conte didn’t seem to have the resources to play 3-4-3 at Stamford Bridge but injuries and defeats have forced the formation upon him. The upshot has been three wins on the trot; nine goals scored, none conceded.

Injuries to Cesc Fabregas, John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic were probably the last thing Conte needed but with his professional life flashing in front of his eyes he had to think quickly. After Arsenal picked Chelsea clean Conte came up with a radical change of shape. Chelsea have gone from the frumpy mothballed outfit that Mourinho left behind to a slinky 3-4-3.

They …

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