Antonio Conte methods and beliefs have worked so quickly at Chelsea the club are now sitting seven points clear at the top of the Premier League – just six months after the Italian joined the Blues. But should everyone be surprised at how swiftly the manager has turned the fortunes of the four-time Premier League winners?

The Italian has overcome the abysmal form at Stamford Bridge after the Blues’ dismal Premier League title defence last campaign which saw them finish 10th.

It’s evidently clear that Conte’s tactical knowledge and ability to make his star men work hard are the reasons behind Chelsea’s success. But nobody should be surprised at the speed everything clicked and fell into place just a matter of months into his tenure at the club.

Restoring confidence, clever man-management, and a no-nonsense approach almost instantly restored the form of their title-winning campaign of 2014/2015. When you look back on his career in management thus far, it comes as no surprise whatsoever Chelsea are the league’s pace-setters.

The task was no easy measure, but Conte had the foundations of a domineering side laid for him due to work made by Jose Mourinho, and he has ensured the team clicked once again. A team so desperately depleted by confidence and lack of guidance was quickly restored following the arrival of Conte. And this isn’t his first rodeo with a troublesome club.

Unlike managers such as Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, and Pep Guardiola, Conte has been unable to walk into a ready-made team for him, as throughout his managerial career with Juventus and Italy, he took over team’s that had little to no expectation. Conte soon arrived and changed the fortunes of both sides especially the Italian national team – dubbed before the Euro 2016 tournament as the worst Italian side in history.

His time in Turin with Juventus saw him win the Serie A title three times in a row – something that was achieved only five times before in the history of the competition. At a time not many predicted him to be a success. Conte was a winner in Italy, and that mentality was bound to rub off in West London.

Defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal earlier in the season are nothing but a distant memory to the majority of the footballing world, and for those who were critical of Conte during that period, admiration can only be held for the Italian. Conte’s decision to introduce his preferred three-man defence sparked the improvement, but that was always going to occur at Chelsea.

It’s truly a measurement of the manager that he could almost walk into a club with the demands of Chelsea and almost instantly turn the negativity full-circle. People forget the fact Conte didn’t join up with his new side until July – just three weeks before the team’s opening game of the season against West Ham.

Conte guided his team to a respectable opening two months of the season, before a 13 game winning run soon followed suit. Now with the club in pole position, many supporters cannot believe the success Conte has achieved in such a short time. When you compare his previous managerial stints, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that he is on the cusp of claiming a Premier League title for the Blues.