Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has welcomed rival teams’ attempts to alter their formations to stop the Blues.
Chelsea appeared to be set for a difficult season after losing to Arsenal back in September but Conte’s decision to switch to a 3-4-3 formation has proven to be a great success.
The west Londoners have subsequently won 10 consecutive Premier League fixtures to move six points clear at the top of the table.
Conte’s side are guaranteed to be in pole position at Christmas as their rivals continue to struggle to figure out how to stop Chelsea’s rise.
Sunderland attempted to mimic Chelsea’s formation in Wednesday’s clash at the Stadium of Light but the Italian tactician is not fazed by the fact others are copying his style of play.
“I am seeing that now, if you compare with when we started playing 3-4-3, many teams try to disrupt our play and our football, and try to avoid us developing our football,” he told the club’s official website.
“For this reason, it’s important to work more and increase our confidence and knowledge of this system. But it’s good to see the opponent change their system to block you.”
Chelsea travel to Crystal Palace on Saturday as they prepare to embark on a busy run of festive fixtures which culminates in a trip to Spurs on January 4.
And Conte is adamant recovery will be key for his side, having rarely rotated his starting line up in the opening half of the season.
“Now we have to continue as in three days we have another tough game against Crystal Palace.
“I hope we recover very well after this battle and to arrive at Christmas in an incredible position in the table,” he insisted.
Cesc Fabregas is the only player to force his way into Conte’s plans since the switch to a 3-4-3 and the Spaniard is confident he still has a big part to play.
COMMENTS