Thoughts on our 4 game winning streak and more

What a turn around it has been since the nightmare that was the 3-0 defeat to Arsenal a month ago. After making claims that a manager must attend to his squad as a "tailor" to find the best alignment, Conte has shown his true prowess by sticking to his philosophy of a back three formation. Now a month ago I would have laughed off any suggestion that a back three anchored by David Luiz would ever succeed at Stamford Bridge. But Conte has shown how good of a player and team manager he really is by implementing the football knowledge of a 3-4-3 into the squad in a matter of days. We are on a four game winning streak in the league and just one point from being at the top of the table.

The new formation has revitalized life for fringe players at Chelsea. Most notably the rise of our

Nigerian (not British...) wing-back Victor Moses, who has gone from the loan army to a irreplaceable asset to the starting eleven. Moses, a natural attacking winger, has taken to the more defensive role admirably. He's given most of the credit to Conte who has shown trust in a player who, lets be real, we never believed would still be part of the roster. Moses has the energy and pace to cover the whole length of the pitch, and with Azpilicueta behind him providing cover, Moses has shown his natural ability rushing forward with direct runs and purpose. His workrate has already rewarded him with a goal, and one can expect plenty more to come as he terrorizes defense from the right.

Other players who have seen their performances improve over the past month include Matic and Cahill. The two began the season, in my opinion, as the worst two players week in and week out. Matic looked lost roaming the middle of the field relying on Kante to cover his mistakes, while Cahill could single-handedly be blamed for sparking the loss of points after a wonderful start to the campaign by making mistakes with the ball being the last man in front of Courtois. Now with the new formation Matic looks like the monster presence we counted on during the title campaign of 2015, and surprisingly (at least to me that is) he finds himself leading the Premier League in assists. Cahill has adapted well to his new role as a left center half, a part of the pitch he did not often venture to until now. He looks comfortable on and off the ball, and honestly looks above average. I personally thought of Cahill as a decent player, not one that I ever considered indispensable, but he has made the LCB position his for the taking. I always thought Kurt Zouma would waltz into the starting eleven after coming back from injury but that transition may take longer if Cahill continues his run of form on the left.

Even our deadline day "panic" transfers have evolved into key players in the new formation. Getting Marcos Alonso this summer looked as if Chelsea settled in terms of player quality. He is no stranger to the EPL, but his last stint with Sunderland was mediocre to say the least. While he improved as a player in Fiorentina I never considered him a player of Chelsea's standard. At left wing back, he has done exactly what hes been asked to do, provide cover. His main job has been to rid Hazard of any defensive responsibilities, while also helping Cahill on defense. What Alonso also brings to the position is a dangerous service from the left. I may need a fact check, but I believe he is top 5 in crosses completed since he's been in the team sheet. Azpilicueta was always a great left back, but Alonso brings that extra help moving forward that we haven't seen since Ashley Cole left the club.

I've always been a big fan of David Luiz, so I have always been the first to defend his critics. WELL

WHERE ARE THOSE CRITICS NOW. The Geezer has been as close to perfect commanding the center of the back three as you can get. The organization that was missing in the back four when Terry went down with the ankle injury has vanished, which speaks volumes to David Luiz' leadership. Conte was very sure he could turn Luiz into a Bonucci-like player saying that even in his late 20s Luiz could improve to one of the best. While I didn't expect to see the change so quickly (if at all), Luiz has been exponentially better than during his first spell at Chelsea or even his time at PSG. He hasn't strayed away from his responsibilities like he so often did in his younger days, and his long balls to play Costa and Hazard through from the back have been amazing.

Speaking of our leading men, Costa and Hazard may be the most dangerous forwards in the league at the moment. Costa is leading the league in goals - F*&# off Aguero - and Hazard has already passed his tally from last season (yes that is ALL of last season). Any time either player gets the ball around the box I'm expecting the ball to end in the back of the net. Hazard is making defenders look like they're ice skating and most importantly he's pulling the trigger. I've always criticized Hazard for trying to take one too many touches and being almost afraid of taking a shot. His goal against Southampton proves how confident he has become in front of goal scoring from an unlikely angle against a decent keeper in Foster.

Our starting eleven have been amazing, but due to their continued success I have some worries for our rotation players. Outside of Chalobah and now Willian, who has recently returned to the squad after an emotional leave to Brazil, the rest of the bench is struggling for minutes. Chalobah has received important minutes during the unbeaten run showing Conte truly trusts the British youngster. He even found Moses with a beautiful backheel pass to record his first EPL assist. Pedro is in unbelievable form compared to what we've seen during his Chelsea career, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Conte bring Willian back into the starters within the next month, he is our reigning player of the year after all. Oscar was also away in Brazil mourning the passing of a family member, but his situation is slightly different. Kante and Matic have made the box-to-box roles theirs., and while Oscar enjoyed the backing of Conte in the 4-3-3 formation there is no obvious place for him at the 3-4-3. Ivanovic and Terry are now adapting to the rotation player role, the harsh truth is that age is finally catching up to them. Thankfully both have been understanding of this as Terry agreed to sin for this year with a "lesser role" and Ivanovic has come out and said he does not want to leave the club. Personally I miss Michy. He quickly rose to a fan favorite early in the season continuosly saving our butts while also winning our hearts with his social media presence. I know Costa has been lights out but "Bats" needs to get back in there, specially for the price we paid for him.

And then there's the Fabregas situation. Earlier this year I was one of the many who pleaded for Cesc to start in the 4-3-3 setup. At the time Chelsea looked lackluster going forward, the team lacked the style of player who can instantly find the dagger pass to put our forwards through. Fabregas then became the hero in our 4-2 win over Leicester in the EFL Cup, but his campaign to become a long term starter was cut short by the embarrassment that was the Arsenal defeat. Conte made the switch to a 3-4-3, to the bench went Cesc, and to be brutally honest the team looks just fine without him. Cesc is a fantastic player, on paper he's probably our best deep playmaker, and while I would love for him to stay with the team, players of his caliber want to play. He is recovering from a minor injury so he hasn't gotten the chance to play in the new formation yet. My opinion is that the jury is still out on whether he leaves in January or not. I prefer the "not" but I'm not Emanelo or Cesc Fabregas.

My final thoughts:

• Absolutely love our run of form. Conte has proven he is the right man for the job
• I think we need to rotate the squad more. Yes, our starters are amazing but a team has 22 players. We have some good ones, lets use them.
• I'm gonna hold back my tongue from calling ourselves favorites for the league, at this moment I believe Liverpool is in the driver seat. but we are not far behind
• but most of all KTBFFH