Paulo Ferreira

Former Chelsea defender Paulo Ferreira believes that Antonio Conte can go on to become the next Jose Mourinho to Chelsea.

The Italian has been an instant hit amongst fans and players. Apart from managing to get Chelsea back to the top of the table, he has also been a breath of fresh air at Stamford Bridge. Conte could join the long list of Italian managers who have been successful at Chelsea. More importantly, the former Juventus manager has brought a new identity to the club. Jose Mourinho is widely praised for being one of the greatest managers in the history of the club, but his real success was in providing an identity.

Chelsea developed a reputation for being hard to beat and being a team that considerably less goals. This reputation also came with a negative aspect that the team played a defensive style of football, and it was not liked by many across the world. Conte, however, has been able to provide entertainment while being strong at the back at the same time.

The Italian also has the big task of replacing the old guard at Chelsea and it is not always easy. Yet, Conte has successfully managed to go away from the reliance on John Terry into a defence that works without the former England captain.

“It’s massive for a manager to come to the best League in the world and, like Mourinho did, win the title in his first season. There are still many points to play for but I hope it will happen under Antonio.Can he build something similar to what Jose did and sustain it? This is a big club that plays to win trophies. Everyone involved wants to go the same direction, to succeed. We know this is a really competitive League where it is difficult to win it two, three, four years in a row,” said Ferreira.