Chelsea managed to come from behind to beat Watford on Saturday. Here are six lessons learned from Antonio Conte’s first Blues win on the road.
Two games, two wins for Antonio Conte. The 2015/16 campaign is off to a perfect start for Chelsea. Following their 2-1 defeat of Watford, Ayushman Basu and Barrett Rouen teamed up to deliver six lessons learned from the win.
1. Chelsea still reactive rather than proactive
There is a stark difference in the Blues camp at the start of this season. If this was last season, and Watford went one goal up, Chelsea would have lost the game. But under the new manager they are fired up and motivated to resurrect themselves.
We witnessed a more hungry and aggressive Chelsea especially after Watford scored the opening goal. If this is what they are capable of, then why can’t they perform like that from the start of the game?
When the scores were neutral Chelsea were lagging, moving the ball slowly and making most of the passes on the defensive end of the pitch. Hazard was floating in and out of the game as he wasn’t getting enough of the ball to work his magic.
Just after Watford scored, there was this sense of urgency and every Chelsea player became more purposeful on the pitch. One of the reasons for the Blues’ 2014/15 success was that they started every match quickly. They would score early and put the game to bed.
Under Conte, Chelsea are setting up in an attacking formation. They must capitalise and hit the gears from the start rather than letting the opponent settle into the game.
A reactive method may work against mediocre opponents but can be suicide in fixtures against the quality teams.
Next: 2. Cesc Fabregas inclusion justified?