Chelsea have endured a difficult start to the new season, following defeat to Arsenal in the Community Shield and a shock loss to Burnley on the opening weekend of the Premier League campaign, and their issues regarding squad depth have been well publicised.

The Blues lost Gary Cahill and Cesc Fabregas to red cards last week, ensuring they were unavailable for yesterday’s crunch tie with Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley, which gave Conte a massive selection headache ahead of the clash.

Chelsea’s wealth of absences meant Antonio Conte faced a plethora of issues yesterday and he as forced into numerous changes, including selecting Brazilian David Luiz in a three-man midfield alongside new signing Tiemoue Bakayoko, who made his debut, and star-man N’Golo Kante.

It was a drastically different set-up to what Chelsea are used to, following their thrilling title charge last season, and a more defensive approach yesterday may have warranted criticism if the Blues had failed to secure a victory.

Chelsea’s result was certainly not clean, and was at risk of falling apart when Michy Batshuayi headed into his own net, but a brace from Marcos Alonso has led to many plaudits for the Blues- and rightly so.

Conte’s approach to the game was systematic to Italian football, playing a counter-attacking style of play that focused on defending and exploited the opposition on the break, before then returning to a defensive stance to see out the result.

In Britain this may be seen as simply ‘parking the bus’ but that’s not the case. The differences are clear, in parking the bus the focus is on not losing whilst Chelsea’s approach yesterday was focused on winning and ensuring their defensive issues were not exposed.

It’s that sort of tactical approach that is crucial for Chelsea in the Premier League this season and could prove to be decisive in the Blues quest for glory, as it takes a brave man to face the truth in situations where a more natural approach would not work.

Other top-class managers may have approached the game in a more arrogant manager, refusing to change their tactics, but Conte identified that a more customary approach would not have worked. Instead, he tweaked and found a tactic that secured three points in the process.