Chelsea vs Stoke City: Mark Hughes 'surprised' Antonio Conte waited so long to commit to 3-4-3 formation

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Tom Doyle30 December 2016

Antonio's Conte's mid-season switch to a 3-4-3 formation was no shock given the Chelsea manager's tactical past, according to Stoke boss Mark Hughes.

Conte deployed a 4-1-4-1 formation early on in the campaign, but damaging defeats to Arsenal and Liverpool in September saw the 47-year-old switch to a three-man defence with the added security of two wing-backs and two central midfielders to screen opposition attacks.

The tactical change has repared dividends with Chelsea top of the Premier League table with 12 straight wins, and though the nature of Chelsea's run has impressed Hughes, the Potters coach was only surprised by the amount of time it took Conte to alter his approach.

Speaking ahead of Stoke's New Year's Eve trip to Stamford Bridge, Hughes said: "Chelsea are an outstanding side. Probably the only surprise was the fact that Antonio Conte didn't commit to this formation (3-4-3) straight away because all the teams that he's been involved in have played that way.

"He went that way with Juventus and at international level with Italy – the surprise was that he didn't come in straight away and tell them that this was the way they were going to play.

"It took a bad defeat at the hands of Arsenal for him to revert to type and from that point onwards they've won every game."

Hughes spent three years as a Chelsea player, but feels his former club's winning run must come to an end soon - and hopefully on Saturday.

The Stoke boss added: "The run they are on at the moment is absolutely outstanding, but that run will come to an end at some point.

"I don't think anyone thinks that from now until the end of the season they will win every game.

"We went there last year and got our first point at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League, which proves we have good talent in our team."

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