Cesar Azpilicueta has played a key role in Chelseas recent revival. Here, he tells Johnny Phillips about Antonio Contes tactics, the team spirit in the camp and plans for a late-season sprint for the title... This is not the Premier League season to be switching off. It changes by the week. Five contenders currently separated by just one point suggest that, even at this early stage, we could be witnessing the most competitive title chase in years.Take Chelsea. They entered October fresh from a dispiriting 3-0 defeat at Arsenal and were being written off by plenty of observers, but now the Blues head into the last game of the same month with three wins, three clean sheets and their heads held high after a 4-0 demolition of Manchester United. Cesar Azpilicueta scored a spectacular equaliser as Chelsea came from two goals down to beat Leicester 4-2 in the EFL Cup Third Round The key for the team has been the change in system. Manager Antonio Conte jettisoned his four-man defence after the Arsenal debacle and for the next game away at Hull lined up with three at the back; Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz and Gary Cahill. The three men have remained in place in the Premier League since that trip to Hull and the team has progressively improved against Leicester and then United.It is a system Azpilicueta has enjoyed operating in. I find it good. The most important thing for me is the team and since we changed the system we havent conceded goals in the Premier League, he told Sky Sports. The most important part of the system is the spirit of the team and the way we work. The tactics make a difference but what was most pleasing was the way the team work?made it happen. Cesar Azpilicueta I try to play my part in the team. The most important part of the system is the spirit of the team and the way we work. The tactics make a difference but what was most pleasing was the way the team work made it happen. Some players have different roles now but we have all week to work on that and we have a very clear idea what to do in the game. We have different options from the attacking fullbacks now.Ahead of Azpilicueta on the right hand side is Victor Moses, who has successfully adapted to the role of right wing-back and appears to be flourishing with the new-found responsibility. Victor has played most of the time as a winger but he has to defend in this role now and he needs help, Azpilicueta continues. Why Contes 3-4-3 works Chelseas switch to 3-4-3 has been a success. We analyse why its working so well. I have talked with him and explained a lot of the defensive side because he has to adapt to that now. Hes offensive-minded, we have seen that when he gets in those positions, but hes working hard and its great to have him in the side.Moses could have no better on-field tutor. It is two years now since Gary Neville described the Spaniard as as near to perfect as is possible when it comes to defending. Azpilicuetas performances dipped last season but his current form is as close to those near-perfect displays as is possible. For positional awareness and cleanness in the tackle there is no-one to touch him. So does he prefer his new role in the side to that of fullback? I dont mind - I want to help the team whatever the position is!You can add diplomacy to those qualities too. Azpilicueta is happier discussing the virtues of his team-mates. When NGolo Kante scored Chelseas fourth against United the entire outfield team joined in the celebrations. It was a popular goal. He will not change. Hes a worker, says Azpilicueta. But he knows when he has a chance to go forward that he can do it very well. On that occasion he scored an amazing goal. Its important for us as well that he can contribute an extra dimension like that because it gives us extra options.There were four different goalscorers against United. Thats really important because you always need to have a few options. We scored from set-pieces and individual excellence, thats great because you need to create those chances and score in different ways when needed. Watch highlights of Chelsea 4-0 Man Utd The euphoria of the United win was dampened in the midweek EFL Cup fourth round tie, when Conte made seven changes from the league match and Chelsea lost 2-1 at West Ham United. Frustrating?Yes, frustrating, because we have lost one of the three chances we had to win a trophy. I think we could have done better. When you lose that type of game you have to look to improve. We are in very good form in the league and we have to move forward from Wednesday and come back strong.What Chelsea fans want to know is whether or not Contes first season at Stamford Bridge will end with him landing the big one. Azpilicueta is happy to talk titles, but it comes with a caveat. Watch NOW TV Watch Sky Sports for just ￡6.99. No contract. Even though we are one point off the lead it still feels like we are a long way away. Id like to be higher, we have to keep improving. The two games we lost in a row and also the dropped points at Swansea hurt us a lot, he explains.We have to keep getting the points to be up there. We have the chance to prepare all week for a game because we dont have European football. We want to be there and we will try and arrive at the final sprint with a chance to win the title. But its a long way off, we have to think about Southampton away first.Azpilicueta may not want to look too far into the future, but if Chelsea can replicate Octobers form in the forthcoming months they will have a major say in the title reckoning. Also See: Why Contes 3-4-3 works Half-term Premier League grades Air Max Australia From China . Ferrer, trying to win his fourth title on Mexican soil, will next play South Africas Kevin Anderson, who eliminated American Sam Querrey,7-6 (2), 6-4. Also Wednesday, Gilles Simon (6) of France beat Donald Young of the United States 6-4, 6-3, Ukraines Alexandr Dolgopolov downed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 and Croatias Ivo Karlovic defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 7-6 (4), 6-2. White Air Max Australia . Defencemen Drew Doughty, Shea Weber and forward Ryan Getzlaf also scored for the Canadians, who started their gold-medal defence 2-0. Goalie Roberto Luongo, getting the call in place of Game 1 starter Carey Price, was solid when needed in making 23 saves for the shutout. http://www.shopairmaxaustralia.com/ .com) - The Montreal Canadiens embark on their first road trip of the season as they head out west to battle the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Womens Air Max Australia . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. Discount Air Max Australia . JOHNS, N.Jonny Evans has warned Northern Ireland another below-par performance against Azerbaijan will endanger their World Cup qualification bid. The team ranked 88th in the world are the visitors to Belfast on Friday night, as they were four years ago early in Michael ONeills reign, when his side had to rely on a stoppage-time David Healy goal to prevent a shock away victory.Worse was to follow later in that World Cup qualification process when Azerbaijan claimed a 2-0 success in Baku, one month after ONeills side had been beaten in Luxembourg during a period when Northern Ireland recorded just one victory in 22 games. Northern Ireland boss Michael ONeill says he couldnt ask for much more from his players Both nations have seen their fortunes improve in the intervening years and three points at Windsor Park would put Northern Ireland above Azerbaijan into second place in Group C as they aim to reach back-to-back finals of major competitions.I think weve come a long way, Evans said as he reflected back on the previous meetings with Azerbaijan.Michael spoke about that, how to deal with teams like that. I think they surprised us out there with how organised they were. Watch NOW TV Watch Sky Sports for just ?￡6.dddddddddddd99. No contract. The expectations on us as a team have risen dramatically and I do think for Azerbaijan as well. Theyre sitting well in the group and Im sure they will be pleased with how theyve started.The last game against them at home, we equalised late on, [but] I think we were in control in that game. I know back then we were disappointed with the result. A car is believed to have developed a technical fault and caught fire outside Northern Irelands team hotel I think now it would be even more so and it would really derail our campaign if we were to perform like that again. It would be disappointing for us to perform like that.In terms of how we approach the game, were in a better mindset and weve got a much clearer plan going into the game of how were going to win.Watch Northern Ireland v Azerbaijan on Friday night. 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