After winning the Champions League with Porto, Jose Mourinho proclaimed himself the “Special One” upon his arrival in English football back in 2004.
A bold statement indeed, but he certainly backed it up, winning the Premier League and the League Cup in his first season as Chelsea manager.
Antonio Conte took charge of the Blues last summer on the back of guiding Italy to the Euro 2016 quarter-final and three consecutive Serie A titles with Juventus.
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The 47-year-old only picked up ten points from his first six games in England before a switch to a 3-4-3 system sparked a remarkable 13-game winning streak in the league.
Chelsea have been Premier League leaders ever since, but how does the Italian’s record so far compare to that of Mourinho’s double-winning 2004-05 campaign?
Results
From their 28 league games this term, Chelsea have picked up 22 wins, three draws and three losses – a 2-1 defeat at home to Liverpool, the 3-0 drubbing at Arsenal, and January’s 2-0 loss at Tottenham.
At the same stage in 2004-05, Mourinho’s men had registered exactly the same number of wins, five draws and just one loss – 1-0 at Manchester City thanks to a Nicolas Anelka penalty.
So, the managerial masterminds have the same impressive win percentage (79%), but the current Manchester United boss has a lower loss ratio of 3.57%, compared to Conte’s 10.71%.
Points
With ten games to go, Chelsea are currently on 69 points and, as you can work out from the results above, Mourinho’s team were slightly better off on 71.
Goals
In terms of goals for and against, it’s Mourinho’s side who have the better goal difference after 28 league games, despite actually scoring fewer than Conte’s high-flyers.
Chelsea have scored 59 league goals this season, compared to 53 at the same stage under Mourinho 12 years ago, but they have conceded 21.
While this gives them the joint-best defensive record thus far alongside Spurs, it also means they’ve conceded 12 more than Mourinho’s team, who incredibly only let in nine goals across their first 28 league encounters.
This defensive solidity helped them to keep a ridiculous 21 clean sheets and boast a +44 goal difference, compared to the 13 clean sheets kept under Conte and their +38 goal difference this season.
However, with 17 goals, star striker Diego Costa has already scored more than 13-goal top scorer Frank Lampard managed in the whole of the 2004-05 league campaign.
Who made the better start?
While the numbers suggest Mourinho’s team were marginally stronger, whichever way you look at it, both he and Conte made outstanding impacts in their first respective 28 league matches.
As it stands, Chelsea have a ten-point lead at the top of the table and will take on Spurs at Wembley on April 22 for a place in May’s FA Cup final.
So, as we enter the business end of 2016-17, Conte is well on his way to replicating Mourinho by winning two trophies in his first year at Stamford Bridge.
Who do YOU think made the better start at Chelsea: Conte or Mourinho? Will they win the double this season? Leave YOUR opinion in the comments box below!