Ian Wright: Liverpool and Chelsea have edge over rivals because players have bought into Jurgen Klopp and Antonio Conte’s philosophies
Ian Wright reckons Premier League table leaders have an advantage over the likes of Arsenal, Man City and Man Utd
SOMETIMES it can be more challenging believing in your manager than it is to believe in the Tooth Fairy.
But you can see it in current performances by Chelsea and Liverpool and it’s giving them the edge over their rivals.
Belief in what the gaffer wants you to do in games, what he demands of you in matches and what you do during the week in training all adds up to the big show on matchday.
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Liverpool make mistakes, yes. They don’t keep clean sheets the way Chelsea do and in other circumstances it might be a big issue.
But under Jurgen Klopp this season, Liverpool are playing with such confidence that there is the belief they will always score more than the opposition.
There is also frustration about the mistakes and errors of judgement that may end up costing them the prize of the Premier League title.
But, for now, we should enjoy watching a team which has clearly bought into the way Klopp wants to play and seeing a group of players who are ready to take on the manager’s ideas — because, plain and simple, it is bringing results.
At Arsenal, I never really believed in Bruce Rioch. I appreciated everything he did at Bolton but I wasn’t having him as my manager at Arsenal.
Yet when George Graham was in charge, he would demand I help defend from the front, not something I enjoyed terribly I can assure you.
But when we saw how much it helped the likes of Tony Adams and Steve Bould in the back four and when we got results from it, the penny dropped.
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Now take a look at Chelsea in recent weeks.
I’d heard on the grapevine that boss Antonio Conte was under considerable pressure after their 3-0 defeat to Arsenal — there were obvious problems in the team. The long-awaited switch to the back three came and now you can see that the Chelsea players believe in what the boss is preaching.
It is also apparent that as well as getting on board with his tactics, some of the players are now understanding what Conte is all about.
Look at the transformations of Eden Hazard, Diego Costa, Nemanja Matic and Victor Moses — clear signals that they believe in Conte.
Football is as much about communication — getting the message across — as it is about the talent on your boots.
Look at Manchester United. Sure, they won at Swansea at the weekend but the inconsistent results suggest the squad is not believing, or at least failing to understand, what Jose Mourinho is trying to get them to do.
Great players but a lack of pace at the weekend. And a lack of energy.
Belief and conviction brings energy and drive because there is a clear objective set out before the players and they know where they are going.
Manchester City are showing in fits and starts that they can turn it on against the best teams in the world.
Turning it around in the double-header against Barcelona recently underlines that.
But again, there is no sign of the momentum that Liverpool and Chelsea are enjoying.