Ronald Koeman has sung the praises of Antonio Conte following Chelsea’s 5-0 thrashing of Everton on Saturday evening, the Daily Mail reports.
Conte’s men produced one of the best Chelsea performances in recent years to romp home to a comfortable victory, and condemn Everton to their worst league defeat for seven years.
Eden Hazard and Marcos Alonso scored twice within the 20th minute to give the Blues an early 2-0 lead, before Diego Costa added a third prior to half-time.
Hazard then grabbed a second before Pedro rounded off an explosive display from Chelsea, and Koeman hailed Conte for introducing a “winning mentality” to the players, and believes the Blues can be genuine title contenders if they can keep this run of form going.
The way [Manchester] City played against us was fantastic, but I’ve never seen a team so strong playing this system. This system is very difficult to play against, and the movement of Hazard, Pedro and Costa is difficult.
The manager has brought a winning mentality to the players. They are looking very hungry every game and if they keep that they will be fight for the title for sure.
Everton boasted on of the toughest defensive records in the league prior to kick-off at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, but were blown away by the Blues who have now won five consecutive league matches since Conte switched to the 3-4-3 formation.
Chelsea have scored 16 goals since the change in formation, and are yet to concede a league goal after Hull, Leicester, Manchester United, Southampton and Everton all failed to hit the back of the net after coming up against Conte’s new system.
And the Chelsea boss was full of positives when speaking about how his players have adjusted to the 3-4-3.
My players adapted very quickly to this system. The system changed with three at the back but the principles are the same.
I am very happy because when the players see they can do this type of performance it is important to trust what we are doing during training. Now we must continue because I am sure we can improve, and we need to improve.
Conte’s name rang around Stamford Bridge throughout Saturday evening’s display, and the Blues boss was quick to thank the supporters and spoke of the importance of having the fans on side.
I didn’t recognise the supporters were singing my name, and then our physical coach told me “they are singing for you.”
It is good and I said thanks to the supporters because it is important, not just for me, but the players and in every moment of the game because we need their support and I hope in the future we can always continue together.
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