Sometimes a system change is all it takes to get the ball rolling in the right direction. Such is the case for Chelsea as they return from the international break to face Middlesbrough at Riverside Stadium on Sunday.That mid-season Jose Mourinho sacking and subsequent 10th-place finish from 2015-16 seem like distant memories as Antonio Contes boys have catapulted themselves to second in the Premier League with 25 points heading into the weekends action. The Blues (8-1-2) are amid an impressive five-match winning streak in which theyve outscored their opponents 16-0.They have not yielded a league goal since the 40th minute of a 3-0 loss at Arsenal on Sept. 24.Contes switch to an unconventional 3-4-3 formation has paid immediate dividends and allowed Chelsea to get back to being a defensive force which helped them win a title under Mourinho in 2014-15. In Contes system, Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz and Gary Cahill sit in as central defenders, allowing Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso to get up and down the flanks as wing backs.The change in tactics also looks to have had a positive effect on Eden Hazard, who bagged a pair of goals in a 5-0 drubbing of Everton prior to the break. Alonso, Diego Costa and Pedro also scored as the Blues rolled to victory.Conte himself was rewarded for his teams effort, collecting the Premier Leagues Manager of the Month Award for October.This is the first time Ive won the award, its a great honour and I want to share it with my players and the club, he told the official Chelsea website. Its now important we continue and maintain our form. After an international break its not easy to restart but we must follow our way and work very hard.Our next game is against Middlesbrough on Sunday, we know they are really strong and it will be a tough game, but we have prepared very well.The Italian boss also provided a fitness update ahead of this clash.The news is that I have all of the players available, said Conte. They are in good form. Costa had a bit of an injury after the Everton game, he started to train with us on Wednesday and his physical condition is good. We still have tomorrow to look at the situation tactically but at the moment he can play. Eden also recovered very well.Due to that injury, Costa withdrew from the Spanish national teams matches during the break. Hazard also picked up a knock in Belgiums win over Estonia.Middlesbrough (2-5-4) have struggled a bit in their quest to secure a second consecutive season in the top flight.Aitor Karankas boys face Chelsea with a good bit of confidence after playing to a 1-1 draw with Manchester City prior to the break. They will be aiming to win consecutive home Premier League matches for the first time since 2006.Marten De Roon netted the stoppage-time equaliser to cancel out Sergio Agueros 43rd-minute opener.The hosts will likely be a bit shorthanded as defender George Friend picked up a knock in training and could sit, while fellow defender Daniel Ayala has been ruled out.We have a few doubts in terms of fitness, Karanka said. The players who were away have returned, but they have had long journeys. We also have Dani Ayala out, and we have a doubt with George Friend. 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That, along with his 32 points -- which tied a career high -- proved too much for Denver to overcome, and the Pelicans held on for their third straight victory, 111-107 on Sunday night. Cheap College Jerseys . -- Derrick Rose shook off poor shooting early to hit clutch shots late and Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 104-95 preseason victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys . -- Arizona raced out to a big lead and did not back off, hitting the accelerator instead. I was a very late adopter where sports is concerned. The first time I remember having any emotional involvement in the outcome of a sporting event was the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix, when Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton were duking it out for that years drivers title.I cried at the end of that race, through happiness for Lewis but also out of sadness for Felipe, who had defined what it is to be sporting in those quick seconds during which the diminutive Brazilian won and then lost the championship. The dignity with which Massa conducted himself that afternoon earned him a lifelong fan in me (and Im sure hundreds of thousands of other fans watching around the world).My first German Grand Prix was the infamous Hockenheim 2010, the weekend of Fernando is faster than you, and a memorable post-race press conference that mainly consisted of journalists shouting b*****ks! whenever Alonso opened his mouth to speak with pride of his most recent hard-earned race win.For as long as Ive been in the paddock, Felipe has been one of the most vibrant -- and underrated -- personalities on offer. A natural born joker, a cheeky scamp, and a juvenile prankster, Massa is a man who is fun to be with even when the chips are down. Generous to a fault, loyal to his friends, and always ready with an affectionate insult, Felipe Massa will be sorely missed.But amiable as he is, no driver wants to be remembered for his personality when there is a decade-plus of excellent on-track performances to consider. Here are six of my personal favourites...Malaysia 2006 Massas second race for Ferrari didnt get off to the best of starts, as new qualifying rules and a double-engine swap saw the Brazilian hit with a 20-place grid drop. A first lap shunt by Kimi Raikkonen saw Massa jump from 21st to 14th, and from that point on it was a matter of squeezing the best possible result out of the chaos -- damage limitation plus. Having worked his way up to fourth thanks to a series of on-track passes, Massa then pitted for fresh rubber and rejoined in eighth. A near-miss with teammate Michael Schumacher when the latter emerged from his own stop caused a few grey hairs, but the then-young Brazilian showed what he was capable of with a solid points-scoring finish from a back of the grid start.Bahrain 2008 The pun-lovers dream, Bahrain 2008 was the first time in F1 history that we had a Pole on pole. But Robert Kubica was unable to hold off Massa on the start, and the Brazilian was leading the grand prix by the time the pack had made it around the first corner. From that point on it was simply a matter of managing the gaps to the ever-changing pack behind. Raikkonen proved to be the most consistent threat, but Massa claimed his first win of the year with a 3.dddddddddddd3 second lead over the rest of the field, the first sign that the Paulisto would be staking a claim to that years drivers title.Brazil 2008 From a racing perspective, Massa was pure perfection. In order to secure the drivers title in a fight to the wire with Lewis Hamilton, the Brazilian needed to win his home grand prix. On Saturday afternoon, it all looked good -- Felipe was on pole, while Hamilton was on the second row. All Felipe needed to do was hold position while hoping that one or more of the men behind would push the McLaren driver below sixth place. Massa did what he needed to do, taking the chequered flag after a faultless performance, and for a few short corners he was world champion. Until Timo Glocks tyre gamble failed, handing the title to Hamilton. Massa may not have won that championship, but the dignity with which he managed that disappointment won him countless fans.Bahrain 2010 The first race back following his near-fatal crash in qualifying for the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix and his first race as teammate to Fernando Alonso. You could have forgiven Felipe for wilting slightly under the pressure, but instead he bloomed. That first qualifying battle saw Massa line up alongside pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel, one place ahead of his Spanish rival. Alonso went on to win the race, but Massa held position and kicked off his post-rehabilitation season with a second-place finish.Japan 2012 A personal favourite race result (and the day I accidentally made Sebastian Vettel cry!) saw Massa, Vettel, and Kamui Kobayashi grace the Suzuka podium following a chaotic race heavily influenced by an early Safety Car. Massa made up six places in that initial shunt, and was running in second place by the first round of stops; a position he managed to hold until the chequered flag. That podium marked a record of sorts -- with it Felipe ended the longest podium-free drought endured by a Ferrari driver.Italy 2014 Perhaps schadenfreude isnt something we should admit to enjoying, but there was a certain pleasure to be had in seeing Massa standing proud on the Monza podium as legions of tifosi cheered his name -- even though the Brazilian racer was wearing Williams colours, not the red race suit of Ferrari. Making it even better was the fact that Alonso had retired from the race early on with engine failure. This time, Fernando, Felipe was faster than you and there was no refuting it.Felipe, well miss you! ' ' '
