Euro 2016: Italian boss Antonio Conte has it all to be Chelsea's Jose Mourinho mk II

ByAlex Chick

Updated 27/06/2016 at 19:46 GMT

Chelsea have got themselves a good one. In masterminding Italy’s stunning win over Spain, Antonio Conte showed the qualities to make Chelsea champions again, writes Alex Chick.

Wasn’t this supposed to be the worst Italian team in history?

That was the talk ahead of Euro 2016. This was a team short on household names, let alone star quality.

In 2002 Marcello Lippi took a six-pronged attacking contingent consisting Totti, Del Piero, Inzaghi, Del Piero, Delvecchio and Montella.

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This time their main striker was a guy struggling to get a game for Southampton.

Likewise at the back – no Cannavaro, Maldini or Nesta. Just a bunch of lumbering 30-somethings.

Morata, Barzagli - Italy v Spain - Euro 2016

Image credit: AFP

Then the superb 2-0 win over Belgium happened, and people remembered that even the worst Italy team ever is made up of 11 Italians.

That day they showed superlative game management, frustrating, time-wasting and drawing amply on the dark arts to secure the points.

The win over Sweden clinched the group and gave Conte fully nine days to rest his starters and prepare for the second round.

There was no rust – just a ferocity and a verve that left Spain bewildered.

Conte sent his men to close down and smother Spain, exploiting their slow tempo, disrupting attacks and launching fast breaks.

The tactical flexibility of Conte’s defensive structure allowed Italy to play with their three central defenders back, four with the full-backs dropping and Leonardo Bonucci stepping up, or five when the occasion demanded.

But this was not just a triumph of organisation, work rate and physicality (though it was all of those things) – Italy also bettered their opponents technically.

They passed with more purpose, exploiting Eder’s pacy dribbling, while the full-backs bombed forward bringing width to every attack.

Giaccherini’s licence to roam drove Spain to distraction – he was ludicrously penalized for a superb bicycle kick, and brought a stupendous save from David De Gea with a 20-yard curler.

De Gea also saved brilliantly from a Graziano Pelle header and denied Eder in a one-on-one; a one-man barrier between Spain and oblivion – a role he has played a few times for Manchester United.

Graziano Pelle celebrates scoring Italy's second goal against Spain

Image credit: Reuters

And once again, when things started to look rocky late on, up popped Pelle to slam home a game-clinching volley.

It was thrilling stuff. Intense, masculine but never needlessly aggressive. It made a Spain side once at the cutting edge of football look leaden, slow and old. The football globe has tilted in favour of men like Conte and Diego Simeone.

It was reminiscent of Chelsea early in Jose Mourinho’s first stint – ruggedly solid, but with fantasy and flair from the likes of Drogba and Robben.

That comparison should stand Conte in good stead at Stamford Bridge. His match preparation has been outstanding, especially when he had time against Belgium and Spain

Whatever Chelsea’s transfer movements this summer, Conte will improve them immediately.

Nowhere near as bad individually as they looked last season, the Italian will surely relish working with the likes of Diego Costa, Willian and of course Eden Hazard, who gave a reminder for Belgium of just what he can do when he puts his mind to it.

The obligatory word of warning - the last manager to arrive in the Premier League off the back of an excellent international tournament was Louis van Gaal.

But where Van Gaal’s track record suggested his 2014 Dutch side’s style was atypical – a consequence of the Robben-Van Persie-Sneijder trident that even a manager as stubborn as him could not ignore.

This Italy side are pure Conte, moulded to fit a team structure that supercedes individuals.

Chelsea are certainly better man for man than the group Conte currently leads. If he can inspire similar collective spirit at Stamford Bridge, greatness awaits.

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