Conte lifts Mourinho Blues

Saturday marks the anniversary of the day Jose Mourinho was sacked by then defending champions Chelsea with the team in a mess and languishing in 16th. One year on, the Blues are back on top under Antonio Conte. Adam Bate examines the clean-up operation…

Jose Mourinho’s final broadcast interview as Chelsea manager in the immediate aftermath of the team’s 2-1 defeat at Leicester was brief but comprehensive. He touched on a myriad of issues crippling his side as well as seeming to wonder whether this even was his side any more. “I feel like my work was betrayed,” he told Sky Sports.

As well as positing the theory that “I did phenomenal work and brought them to a level that’s not their level”, there were reflections on once key players.

“Clearly Diego is in trouble in the box,” was his view on the star striker. Eden Hazard’s injury that saw him walk off the field “must be serious”. He was back within a fortnight. Mourinho was long gone.

Twelve months on from the day that Chelsea pulled the plug on a man who had taken them to the Premier League title only seven months earlier, the turnaround has been as dramatic as the decline.

Antonio Conte has renewed the players and restored Chelsea’s position with interest. Six points clear, they will be top at Christmas and are now odds on to stay there.

Diego Costa has put his penalty-box problems behind him. He’s the Premier League top scorer having already matched last season’s tally of 12. Hazard has eight of his own, double his 2015/16 total.

Both men are back to their brilliant best. Maybe even better. But they aren’t …

continue reading in source www.skysports.com