Conte reminds me of Mourinho - Forlan

Diego Forlan sees many similarities between Chelsea coach Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho, as both are "very intense".

The Italian has enjoyed an excellent first half of the season at Chelsea, guiding them to a club record 12 wins in as many Premier League games to put them six points clear of second-placed Liverpool in the table.

The Blues seem to have recovered from a disastrous 2015-16 campaign, during which Mourinho was sacked with the team sitting 10th despite winning the league the previous year.

While Mourinho continues to struggle with his Manchester United team sitting sixth in the league, Conte has flourished at Stamford Bridge, continuing his success from his time at Juventus where he won three consecutive Serie A titles before taking over the national team.

But Forlan believes they share some characteristics.

"I know people pick out Diego Costa or Pedro or Eden Hazard, but what their coach Antonio Conte does best is create teams," he wrote in The National.

"He did it at Juventus, where they were built on a brilliant defence, with great counter-attacking ability. He reminds me of Mourinho in this way, who also shares the characteristic of being very intense."

However, the former Manchester United and Uruguay attacker feels the players deserve a great deal of praise for their impeccable form.

"Much has been made of Conte playing three at the back and how effective this has been since he switched to it after a difficult start.

"I do not buy into these tactical obsessions that occupy so much space in the media. Football is a really simple game and the most important thing, in any formation, is that the players do their jobs, not the formation which they play in.

"All of the usual formations have advantages and disadvantages, but none would work without the magic of the players. Systems, coaches and directors or club presidents do not win games — players do, they are the only people who can make a significant difference once that game starts."

Crucial to Chelsea's excellent run of form has been Thibaut Courtois, who has kept 11 clean sheets in the Premier League this term. And Forlan remembers him fondly from his loan spell at Atletico Madrid, where he won La Liga and reached the Champions League final, and is glad to see him live up to expectation.

"Courtois was new and on loan [to Atletico] from Chelsea, very pleasant and very shy. I left for Inter, he stayed and had a superb loan spell at Atletico, where he played in the team which knocked Chelsea out of the 2014 Champions League. 

"A few months after I left Atletico, I was surprised to see an interview with Courtois where he spoke really good Spanish, with all the correct pronunciation, which is not easy for any player new to a country, not because they do not want to learn but because it is not an easy language to learn.

"I still had friends at Atletico and they told me he was dating a Spanish girl. That is the best way to learn a language quickly.

"Courtois was rated highly enough by Chelsea to go back and replace Petr Cech, one of the best goalkeepers of modern times. He has lived up to his reputation."