Must Watch: Antonio Conte’s Insane Piece Of Skill In Chelsea Training
Dec 7, 2016 at 5:14 PM
What a difference Antonio Conte has made at Stamford Bridge.
Under the eccentric Italian manager, Chelsea seem reinvigorated and currently find themselves three points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Their performances this season are in stark contrast to last term, where the Blues struggled under Jose Mourinho and eventually slumped to a 10th-placed finish.
Indeed, since their 3-0 defeat to Arsenal on September 24, Chelsea have won their eight Premier League games to an aggregate score of 22-2, including 4-0 and 5-0 wins over Manchester United and Everton respectively.
Defensively is where Chelsea have undoubtedly improved most, with Conte’s unorthodox 3-4-3 formation paying dividends.
The former Juventus manager was a wonderful player back in his heyday and it would seem his experience and winning pedigree is rubbing off on Chelsea’s players.
Conte, who retired from professional football in 2004, often takes part in his training sessions and today he demonstrated how he’s still got it.
In the video below, from Diego Costa’s lofted pass, Conte brilliantly controls the ball with an inverted Cruyff turn on the half volley.
Nice bit of skill from Antonio Conte before training today! ? pic.twitter.com/0gcys3MMpD
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 6, 2016
How about that. Conte’s reaction says it all, the Italian looking straight at Costa and nodding his head after pulling off the piece of skill.
Following Saturday’s impressive 3-1 away win over Manchester City, where Chelsea came from a goal behind, Conte praised his players for showing “character”.
“It’s a big win and a big result against a really strong team,” he told Chelsea TV.
“With the quality of players in their squad I think it’s the most complete in this league. For this reason, I am pleased with the result, and with the players. They showed me great character.
“We were lucky at the start of the second half because there was one crossbar, and also a good save from Thibaut [Courtois] kept the result at 1-0.
“Then we found great strength to score the goal to draw, and then to score the second goal and the third goal. It’s fantastic this because I repeat, it’s not easy to come here and win this game. Now we have to continue.”