Antonio Conte discusses the tactical changes at Chelsea.

After two disappointing defeats at home to Liverpool and away to Arsenal and the manner of both being totally outplayed in the first half of both games, Antonio Conte decided to implement a tactical change.

Speaking to the Chelsea Website this week, Conte has given an insight into his thought process that has seen the club win five games on the spin scoring sixteen goals without conceding a single goal. He said:

“We started the season with another system because the idea in my mind was that I wanted to play with the 4-2-4, and then we switched with 4-3-3 and we played also in the same way like last year, 4-2-3-1.

But I noticed in some circumstances we didn’t have the right balance because when you concede more goals than your opponent and even more chances to score a goal, it is never a good thing. For this reason, we switched to the new system of 3-4-3 and I think this is a good fit for our squad because also we have the strikers adapted for this system.

I thought it would improve us offensively as well as defensively and we didn’t lose our offensive situation. In this way we have increased it because we scored many goals and created a lot of chances to score the goals and also if you maintain the clean sheet, I think this is the right way.”

I had heard reports of how tactically aware and flexible the manager was before he arrived. Pep Guardiola for example stated in his book recently released that he was one of the most tactically astute managers in the game and he considers Chelsea to be one of his biggest rivals for the Premier League title this season so grab your Chelsea tickets as quickly as possible.

I really like Conte’s approach since he arrived. Rather than walk through the door and demand changes, he has had a real look at his players, looked at the squad as a whole and pinpointed our strengths and weaknesses as a collective as he has said trying three different formations before deciding to settle with the successful 3-4-3.

We’ve had impressive results against Leicester, Manchester United, Southampton and Everton so far however; the real tests will come in the next three weeks as we face Tottenham and Manchester City (no disrespect to Middlesborough).

After we face Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City side, we can take a look at where we are as a team as we prepare for the busy Christmas period. Only after that period you get a feel for who will be there or thereabouts in the Premier League title race.

So far so good but there is plenty of work to be done.