Rebirth of the Blues as Conte rips it up and starts again
ANTONIO CONTE reacted as you would expect to a 3-0 roasting by Arsenal. The fiery Italian ripped up Chelsea’s formation, became the first manager since Andre VillasBoas to drop Branislav Ivanovic and watched as Diego Costa helped end their worrying mini-slump.
Chelsea’s record arriving on Humberside was virtually a crisis by Roman Abramovich’s standards — one point out of a possible nine with seven goals conceded.
So just like Jose Mourinho a week ago at Manchester United when he left out Wayne Rooney, Conte did not shy away from making big changes.
He lined up with a three-man central defence, two unlikely wingbacks in Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso, and Ivanovic watching from the bench — the first time he has been left out of a Premier League game since 2011/12.
The rewards were not immediate with Chelsea indebted to two fine saves by goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to reach half-time level.
But after that they moved up the gears with midfielders N’Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic powering further forward and two sumptuous finishes from Willian and Costa from near-identical positions.
‘We played with a real intensity,’ said Conte, who had briefly experimented with his new formation after the game had already been lost at The Emirates.
‘It is never easy after two defeats but it was important to keep a clean sheet after conceding two and then three goals.
‘We were able to defend very high and this is very important. The team was always compact and when we lost the ball, we tried to win it back quickly. When you work together, it is easy.’
There was scant sympathy for Ivanovic, a mainstay of Chelsea’s glory era.
‘I try to choose the best for the team because I want to win and the fans want to win,’ said Conte.
‘It is important that all the players are involved in the project, young and old. We work together and it is important to trust the work.’
Hull had never beaten Chelsea in the Premier League but might have been encouraged by the surprising line-up Conte chose.
Full-back Cesar Azpilicueta was the right-sided defender of three alongside David Luiz and Gary Cahill. Moses has been on loan for most of his four years as a Chelsea player, while it was a first Premier League start for Alonso following his £23million move from Fiorentina.
The formation turned out in effect to be a 3-4-2-1 and Hull coped well in the opening 45 minutes.
Indeed, the home side came closest to scoring. After four minutes, Courtois flew across goal to beat away a Robert Snodgrass free-kick. Right on the interval, he saved again when Ryan Mason let fly from 25 yards.
Having survived, Chelsea then moved up the gears with their midfield players given license to power forward.
Kante set up Costa to hit the post and then fired the rebound over but it proved a temporary let-off for Hull.
Willian fed Costa and when the striker played a pass for Eden Hazard, Willian took it off his team-mate’s toes and curled an inch-perfect finish from 20 yards.
Poor David Marshall could not get near it and six minutes later Costa scored a carbon copy from the same range, bending his finish into the top corner after Matic had rampaged forward and seen a shot charged down.
It was Costa’s sixth Premier League goal — it took him until January to reach that tally last season.
Conte must be relieved Chelsea did not sanction his sale to Atletico Madrid in the summer.
‘It is fantastic for him and for us,’ said Conte. ‘I think Diego has the opportunity in every game to score goals but the most important thing is he worked hard.’