Perhaps no other player epitomizes Antonio Conte’s core tenet of constant improvement more than Victor Moses. The former winger, who had been lost in the loan wilderness for three seasons, has become one the key players in the 3-4-3 setup favored by the Chelsea head coach for much of the season.
“If you asked me before the change if I imagined him in this new position, I would say not, because we started to try to play with the 4-2-4 and I always saw him as a winger, very good one-v-one but a bit poor defensively.”
“When I decided to change the system, I wanted to try him in this role, to work with him in a different situation, and he showed me great commitment to understand and to study the new role, above all in defensive situations. Now we have a complete player, offensively and defensively.”
Heady praise, to be sure, and perhaps a bit over the top. Is Victor Moses a “complete” player? Probably not, if such a thing even exists, but Moses has certainly been a great success at wing-back.
“I realised quickly that Victor could stay with us. I spoke with him during pre-season, when we stayed in America, and told him he will stay with us. I'm happy to have have this type of player. I knew him before, but to see him in person is very important to judge a player. He deserved to stay with us this season but also now he is deserving to play.”
“Victor was very, very happy when I told him he would stay. He said to me ‘I am ready to stay here, to fight for the club, I need to have my chance to show that I deserve to play with Chelsea’. It happened and we are very happy for this because he's showing he's a good player.”
-Antonio Conte; source: Chelsea FC
Armed with a new 4.5-year contract, Moses is set to build on his first season as a wing-back. After spending the last five seasons at five different teams, it will probably be nice to have some well deserved continuity.
“He's a really good guy, a good player with a great technique, great desire to fight. I think he deserved this.”
-Antonio Conte; source: Independent