Conte embracing life at Chelsea

When Antonio Conte was appointed four months ago, I wondered if, as reporters, we’d be spending most of the season now upon us interviewing him through an interpreter.

There was plenty said and written about him needing to learn English. And he didn’t just need to learn it, he needed to get to a level where he could speak it confidently to a room full of journalists and under the glare of TV cameras.

It seemed likely that, at the very least, he would spend the first few weeks under the comfort blanket of his native language. But it would appear Conte doesn’t do comfort blankets. A manager known in Italy for his dedication and hard work has been studying ‘with intensity’.

On Friday, at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground, having already conducted a warm and engaging press conference, complete with separate briefings for Saturday and Sunday newspapers, he walked into the room where our cameras were set up to do his first TV sit down since taking charge.

I wouldn’t exactly say he strode in, he was keen to know what questions would be coming and former Chelsea goalkeeper turned coach, Carlo Cudicini was there if he needed help with his English.

But this wasn’t just a man muddling his way …

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