By now everyone knows that Antonio Conte is the man that has been entrusted to turn around the current situation at Stamford Bridge by Roman Abramovich and the Chelsea board.
Conte is a man that prides himself on using a variety of different formations and tactics in order to bring the best out of the players he has.
Many people have been critical of Conte’s team selection for Italy. With four World Cups to their name, many expect Italy to be right up there, however, people were writing them off before they had even kicked a ball.
The decision to leave out key figures such as Andrea Pirlo, Domenico Berardi and Jorginho, was an incredibly difficult decision made by Conte. Instead, he chose players such as Emanuele Giaccherini, much to the disappointment of Italian fans.
However, the display in their opening game against one of the pre-tournament favourites in Belgium has allowed the players that Conte picked to play to their strengths and justify their selection to the football world.
It was truly a remarkable performance from the Azzurri, you could see when the teams were singing the national anthems how much it meant to each and every single individual of the Italian team.
I certainly haven’t seen an anthem being sung with so much passion before. It showed in the 90 minutes against Belgium. On paper, it’s clear that the Belgian squad possess players capable of really hurting a team on their day. What most people forget is that defence is the best form of attack and this is what Italy takes pride in.
A simple 3-5-2 formation designed to suffocate the attack out of the opposing team and when required push forward and play counter-attacking football.
One thing I noticed from the three centre-backs of Giorgio Chiellini, Andrea Barzagli and Leonardo Bonucci was that right across the back line, they’re comfortable on the ball, in some cases running into midfield and looking for a pass to the wingers or strikers.
In possession, the Italians like to play what looks like a 3-3-4 formation with the two wingers joining the two strikers. Out of possession is where you really see how well tactically prepared and mentally prepared the Italian team really are. They focus on rotating between a 3-5-2 and a 4-4-2, flooding the midfield and absorbing the pressure from the opposition.
The only criticism having seen Italy play this formation would have been to see how they would have responded to going a goal down. Would they play 3-5-2 or go to a 4-4-2 in order to get an overlap in wide areas, providing more crosses for Graziano Pelle.
For Blues fans, it is clear that José Mourinho has already gone down in Chelsea history, I predict it won’t be too long before Conte manages to write himself into the Chelsea history books.
A tactical genius and a man who delivers performance after performance. Simply take a look at his impeccable record with the Italian national team. Conte prides himself on being the underdog and has been even heard saying “I like to be the underdogs”.
In a way, there is less pressure on a team as they aren’t necessarily equipped to deal with the bigger teams in most people’s eyes, however, Italy have proved that they’re by no means underdogs and instead can now be considered as one of the tournament favourites.
The future of Chelsea Football Club is in the hands of Antonio Conte and it certainly looks like a bright future.
On that note I shall leave you with a quote from Antonio Conte:
You have to do the extraordinary and not the ordinary if you want to achieve your dreams.
