Conte better than Mourinho —Gary Neville

MOURINHO is a great manager but defensive, while Antonio Conte brings balance to Chelsea, says, Gary Nevile.

The key difference between Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho is that the Italian has brought tactical “balance” to Chelsea, according to Gary Neville.

Conte is on the verge of winning the premier league in his debut season in England.

Mourinho previously won the titles with Chelsea on three occasions in his two spells despite a reputation for defensive football.

Gary Neville believes the Blues now have a coach in Conte who gets the best out his team at both ends of the pitch.

Neville told Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football: “We had a debate about Jose Mourinho, who we said was a great manager but he’s a defensive manager.

“I’m interested in what we would describe Antonio Conte as – I look at him and I think there is a balance in the team.

“He pays a lot of focus to defence – they’re not a [Jurgen] Klopp, [Pep] Guardiola or [Arsene] Wenger type team, where they can be reckless in attack.

“They always have plenty of security in defence.”

Despite Chelsea’s current seven-point lead over Tottenham, Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher believes that Conte’s painful experience of losing the Serie A title on the final day of the 1999/2000 season with Juventus ensured the coach would not let another dominant lead slip.

“I think Antonio Conte was really worried at one stage about Tottenham,” Carragher said.

“He was focused and intense. I can imagine him being like that around the training ground.

“He was part of Juventus teams that lost titles on the last day – you don’t forget things like that.

“He’d have been drumming that into his players.

“Before the game at Goodison Park, where they could have lost, you could tell he thought it wasn’t in the bag yet.”