It’s been a funny old start to the third international break of the season.
The majority of the world has gone from anger, outrage and fury (with a hint of positivity from some) with regards to Donald Trump’s surprise Presidential election victory, to laughing or crying with joy over a few animals bouncing around on a trampoline in John Lewis’ latest Christmas advert!
Madness.
Those same emotions, however, can be used to describe Chelsea’s season so far.
The Blues began life under Antonio Conte at a bit of a doddle, with victories over West Ham, Watford and Burnley in the league, though the performances were less than convincing.
Then came the anger and outrage from Blues fans following a bit of a defensive meltdown in September. Mistakes at the back allowed Swansea to pick up a 2-2 draw in a match Chelsea really should have ran away with.
And then came the dreadful performance in the 2-1 defeat at home to Liverpool before a complete first-half collapse in the 3-0 loss at Arsenal at the Emirates.
Conte then decided he’d seen enough from the traditional 4-2-3-1 formation, and the joy and laughter returned to the Chelsea fans.
The Italian switched to his favoured 3-4-3 system in the second-half of the Arsenal game, and the Blues have not looked back since.
Chelsea have won five consecutive league victories under Conte’s new system, scoring 16 goals and conceding none along the way, and propelled up the Premier League table into second, just one point behind leaders Liverpool.
Here are our player ratings for the season so far, using those who have featured in the league only.
