Changing Times at Chelsea Mean Antonio Conte Is the Club’s Biggest Asset

This season was billed as the year of the super coach in the Premier League, but no other manager has lived up to that billing quite like Antonio Conte has at Chelsea.

Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp have impressed in their own ways with Manchester City and Liverpool, respectively. We’ve been endeared to Guardiola’s philosophy and the noise generated by Klopp’s brand of heavy-metal football, but compared with Conte’s achievements, both have a long way to go if they are to match him.

Even if Chelsea’s title challenge doesn’t finish up with the Premier League trophy come May, the early reign of Conte can be judged the biggest success.

The barometer to measure that is simple: no other coach has made such a sudden impact. Conte’s brief has been different to the other managers he is competing against this term. He was charged with replenishing Chelsea’s squad, rebuilding the shattered confidence of players who had been so publicly humiliated in 2015/16; he was starting from scratch where others at least had something tangible to work with.

He’s already delivered. The transformation of Chelsea from mid-table disappointments to Premier League leaders in 12 matches has been remarkable. The Italian has transformed the fortunes of a struggling club in the few months he has been at Stamford Bridge.

What we are seeing now is Conte’s Chelsea in action; it’s his character and ethos that defines the Blues’ identity. He’s stamped his authority on the club in a way no other manager has done elsewhere. Indeed, we need only reflect on those back-to-back losses against Liverpool and Arsenal in September for proof of that fact.

They were sobering times for Chelsea. Until Conte’s side had entertained Liverpool at home, we thought the rebuild was going well. There had been hiccups along the way, but the Blues were back to winning games and competing in a way a team of their talent should be. Falling behind against opponents, they showed the mettle of old to not only overcome the setbacks, but win football matches.

They were taught a lesson by Liverpool, and a week later the same happened against Arsenal when they crashed to a 3-0 loss.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for supporters given both clubs have been the fiercest of Chelsea’s rivals in recent times. Chelsea had knocked both off their …

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