Chelsea's players have no choice but to follow Antonio Conte, says Gianluca Vialli

Follow the leader: Antonio Conte has made a bright start at Chelsea
AFP/Getty Images
Sam Long15 September 2016

Chelsea's players have no choice but to follow Antonio Conte, according to former Blues manager Gianluca Vialli.

Conte has made a bright start to his reign at Stamford Bridge, leading Chelsea to second place in the Premier League table after four games.

The Italian's passionate style has struck a chord with Chelsea's fanbase and he has an opportunity to endear himself to the west London faithful even further with victory over fierce rivals Liverpool on Friday night.

While Chelsea were "all over the place" at times last season, Conte has the Blues pulling in the same direction and Viallia is adamant disagreeing with the 46-year-old's methods is not an option.

"I think players have no choice but to follow him," Vialli insisted. "They are used to working with managers with a strong personality like his.

"He has to adapt to his players as much as they have to adapt to him.

"I'm positive they will find a compromise," he added.

Chelsea are one of just four sides with an unbeaten record in England's top tier and will climb to the top of the table for the first time this season if they secure all three points against Jurgen Klopp's side.

Vialli is convinced his compatriot will make Chelsea title challengers but expects the fight to be crowned champions to go to the wire.

"I think Conte is already doing a great job at Chelsea.

"He arrived at the right moment after a disappointing season. I think the title race will go until the end.

"As often happens when you watch a Premier League game the intensity is so high that you are exhausted just watching it," Vialli added.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in