Sunday 6 November 2016 20:59, UK
Chelsea's 5-0 win over Everton on Saturday saw Antonio Conte's team move to the top of the Premier League. Adam Bate looks at why their dramatic transformation in fortunes could also bring the long-term change that was necessary at Stamford Bridge...
Antonio Conte has lost none of his exuberance on the touchline despite the recent public reprimand he received from Jose Mourinho. Even as the fifth goal went in against Everton, there were high fives to be had with the crowd. The intensity, it seems, is ever present.
Motivation has been a massive factor in Chelsea's recent upturn in fortunes under the Italian. This was the quality that his compatriot and former Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti identified as having been Mourinho's issue last season. It has been emphatically addressed.
In the five-game winning sequence that helped take Chelsea to the top of the Premier League table on Saturday night, Conte's men have outrun their opponents by a combined distance of around 26 kilometres. The work rate is conspicuous and purposeful.
Diego Costa is full of enthusiasm once more, brushing Phil Jagielka aside with contempt as he strode away to set up the final goal of the evening. His form marks the return of the snarling centre-forward who drove Chelsea to the title two seasons ago.
Behind Costa in midfield, there's N'Golo Kante - the man whose relentless dynamism helped Leicester to the same crown last season. Meanwhile, Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso have brought athleticism to the team and Pedro has rediscovered his appetite of old.
But for all this energy and endeavour, Conte's real triumph has been a deftness of touch. It's not all screams and an age-old urge for the side to run harder. They're working smarter too. His intellectual savvy in navigating a difficult path through Chelsea's problems is paying off.
Take the team's change of formation. The much-anticipated switch to a back-three could have been instituted by Conte immediately upon his arrival in the summer. However, he decided against introducing himself as a tactical zealot intent on doing it his way at all costs.
Back-to-back defeats in September allowed him to style it as a pragmatic move instead. He bought himself time by stressing these results were a continuation of existing issues. As a result, even amid problems, the changes were made from a position of personal strength.
There were tactical benefits, of course. The defence is now offering better protection, while most obviously there's the freedom being afforded to Eden Hazard. Coming off the touchline, one of the Premier League's greatest talents is now in the game even more.
But speak to the Chelsea players and it's the confidence that Conte has imbued them with that's been key. The 3-4-3 has almost acted as a placebo effect - the instant results ensuring the team has bought into the change wholeheartedly.
In achieving that, Conte has exercised the most significant tactical progression seen at Chelsea since Mourinho's arrival first time around more than a dozen years ago. He's not the first to try but he could be the first to effect meaningful long-term change.
Andres Villas Boas toyed with a high line but was unsuccessful. Rafael Benitez's tinkering as interim boss was interpreted even at the time as a pause in proceeding rather than a precursor to real progress. Mourinho's return in 2013 soon saw John Terry restored.
Now the style and the personnel do feel different. A club that's still not won a Premier League title without Didier Drogba and Petr Cech in the dressing room is enjoying this renewal of form without their talisman Terry in the team either.
Chelsea have now won five games in a row without their captain in the starting line-up. That's as many as they'd won without him in the previous 16 attempts dating back two seasons. The master of low-block defence is watching on as a new way emerges.
Here too it's testament to Conte's subtlety and self-assurance. He did not force Terry out of the club in the summer, even signing off on a new contract. He's praised the player in public and started him - as skipper, of course - in the cup. But he has kept him on the bench too.
What might have been a drama has become a good news story instead. Chelsea head into the international break as the Premier League's in-form team and Terry can even dream of lifting yet another title in May at the age of 36.
Three of the previous four came under Mourinho. All bore his fingerprints. But this is different. The change that Roman Abramovich wanted has been a long time coming, but when it finally has come it's been swift. And it's been expertly handled by Antonio Conte.
