It was once said by one of Stamford Bridge’s more famous previous coaches that there could be no “transition” season at a club like Chelsea due to the demands but, while Antonio Conte evidently doesn’t feel the same, it seems that he works with that very mindset.

The Italian used precisely that word to describe his team this season, and argued how that makes any triumph all the greater, and would ensure a potential double is a superior achievement to that won by the club in 2009-10.

It was a break from the polite humility that has genuinely stood out from Conte this season, but that was perhaps understandable after what was one of Chelsea’s most satisfying and rousing performances of the season, in the 4-2 FA Cup semi-final win over Tottenham Hotspur.

Chelsea 4 Tottenham 2 player ratings Show all 22 1 /22 Chelsea 4 Tottenham 2 player ratings Chelsea 4 Tottenham 2 player ratings Thibaut Courtois – 6 out of 10 Aside from the two Tottenham goals, the Belgian keeper made a handful of vital saves to keep his side in it. Getty Images, Chelsea 4 Tottenham 2 player ratings Cesar Azpilicueta – 6 out of 10 Was getting dragged out of position at times, but overall it was a satisfying display. He tackled well and supported the midfielders in possession. Getty Images Chelsea 4 Tottenham 2 player ratings David Luiz – 9 out of 10 His defensive display today was faultless. He tackled hard, led the line at the back and was creating moves from the back. Getty Images, Chelsea 4 Tottenham 2 player ratings Nathan Ake – 7 out of 10 Today was a huge chance for Ake and he certainly performed under pressure. The only issue was that he was diving into challenges – resulting in a number of needless Tottenham free kicks. AFP/Getty Images Chelsea 4 Tottenham 2 player ratings Victor Moses – 8 out of 10 Was certainly one of Chelsea’s top players today. He was energetic, oozing with confidence and he won the penalty for Willian’s second goal. Getty Images Chelsea 4 Tottenham 2 player ratings N’Golo Kante – 8 out of 10 A textbook Kante display. Energetic, powerful, clever and quite simply ran the midfield. He is the engine within the Chelsea side. Getty Images Chelsea 4 Tottenham 2 player ratings Nemanja Matic – 7 out of 10 His somewhat mediocre display was redeemed his sublime strike from distance in the late stages of the game. Getty Chelsea 4 Tottenham 2 player ratings Marcos Alonso – 6 out of 10 He looked dangerous pressing forward, but defensively he was clumsy and gave away a handful of unnecessary fouls. Getty Images Chelsea 4 Tottenham 2 player ratings Willian – 9 out of 10 He appeared to thrive on the pressure of his late introduction to the starting 11, with two goals. His free kick was an example of his endless talent. AFP/Getty Images Chelsea 4 Tottenham 2 player ratings Pedro – 6 out of 10 His pace proved problematic for Spurs, but he did not see enough of the ball in my opinion. AFP/Getty Images Chelsea 4 Tottenham 2 player ratings Michy Batshuayi – 6 out of 10 Hunted possession relentlessly and when he tracked back to defend a corner, he always the one to clear the danger. Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty I Chelsea 4 Tottenham 2 player ratings Hugo Lloris – 4 out of 10 Should have arguably saved Willian’s free kick. Aside from that, it was hard for him to look impressive against such a clinical Chelsea side. Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty I Chelsea 4 Tottenham 2 player ratings Kieran Trippier – 7 out of 10 He was particularly impressive today when he was pumping long balls over the top to Kane and Son from a defensive position. Getty Images Chelsea 4 Tottenham 2 player ratings Eric Dier – 6 out of 10 His work rate was faultless, he created moves going forward and he continued to pump balls into the danger zone. AFP/Getty Images Chelsea 4 Tottenham 2 player ratings Toby Alderweireld – 6 out of 10 Aside from giving away the free kick for Willian’s first goal, he performed well and tackled courageously for the full 90 minutes today. Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty I Chelsea 4 Tottenham 2 player ratings Jan Vertonghen – 6 out of 10 He stood up well when Chelsea were attacking and he made a countless amount of blocks and interceptions. Getty Images Chelsea 4 Tottenham 2 player ratings Victor Wanyama – 6 out o f10 He passed the ball well and was using the width of the pitch well. Defensively there is certainly room for improvement. Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty I Chelsea 4 Tottenham 2 player ratings Mousa Dembele – 7 out of 10 He patrolled the game from the middle of the pitch, used possession well and won a number of the aerial challenges. AFP/Getty Images Chelsea 4 Tottenham 2 player ratings Son Heung-min – 4 out of 10 His decision to slide tackle Moses inside of the area was simply imprudent. Was also very wasteful in possession. Getty Images Chelsea 4 Tottenham 2 player ratings Christian Eriksen – 8 out of 10 He created Kane’s opener and his assist for Alli’s goal will be one of the best that we can expect to see all season. Incredible. Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty I Chelsea 4 Tottenham 2 player ratings Dele Alli – 8 out of 10 His equaliser for Spurs was an impressive strike, which he thoroughly deserved following a top display. Getty Images, Chelsea 4 Tottenham 2 player ratings Harry Kane – 8 out of 10 His headed goal to level the scoring showed top technique from a tricky angle. Today he was energetic, alert and caused the Chelsea defence problems throughout. Getty Images,

The 47-year-old doesn’t usually like to overplay any win because he wants to keep players focused until the job is actually done. Following a week where there had been a lot of talk over whether Tottenham were actually a better team and how fragile Chelsea’s season had become, however, he seemed especially keen to remind people of just how impressive their - and his - work has been and how he has had much less time with his squad than Mauricio Pochettino. He also stressed that, just like with his first title at Juventus in 2011-12, Chelsea have been “underdogs” as they close in on the title.

Conte had been asked about some under-the-radar comments on Friday, and why he thinks that a double of Premier League and FA Cup this season would be “different” to the last one claimed by Chelsea, under compatriot Carl Ancelotti in 2009-10. While keen to stress that Ancelotti is “the best Italian coach”, he reasserted that this campaign hardly provided the best conditions for success: Chelsea had come from 10th in 2015-16 and, with so many senior players leaving, were effectively in transition.

That, naturally, makes any triumph all the more impressive.

“I think that now at Chelsea we are in a period of transition,” Conte said. “In this season, we have lost [Branislav] Ivanovic, [John Obi] Mikel and next season we lose John Terry. We are talking about players who wrote the history of this club.

“They won a lot. Now we have to find the right substitutes for these players and then work to put these players at the same level. I think that in the period with Carlo - and Carlo is the best Italian coach, I have great respect for him - he arrived at Chelsea when they had a really strong squad. Now we are building. We are building something important. We need time.

“It’s not easy when you lose these type of players but we need to show patience to build the foundations and then improve every season. I repeat, if you ask me last season, after our 10th place, and this season you stay on top of the table and you reach the FA Cup final, but you didn’t change a lot, I think it’s great. But we must continue to work and improve.

“For me, it is very important to develop our football. If you compare our team with Tottenham’s, Pochettino has worked for three years. I started to work only seven or eight months ago. If we are able to take the right player to improve this squad and to continue to work with these players, we can improve for sure.

“In my first season in Juventus we won the title, but we started as underdogs, and, yeah, if we want to be honest, in this season, it's happening the same because I think Chelsea, at the start of this season, not one person thought to fight for the title in this season, for many reasons, I don't want to explain why, but then with Juventus, after the first season, the second season, the third season, I think our team was very, very strong, if you compare our team with the other team, for this reason, in one season we reached 102 points, the record in Italy. Here, you have a lot of competitors, and a lot of strong teams, with a great squad and I think it's more difficult now, to win the league.”

Chelsea only beat Spurs in a sensational match after Eden Hazard, Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas had been brought on as substitutes - with the Belgian playmaker scoring the game-breaking third goal to make it 3-2 - but Conte insisted they were not rested because he valued the match less than Tuesday’s home league game against Southampton.

Hazard and Costa came off the bench to change the game (Getty)

“For us, this game, it was very important to reach the final of the FA Cup, for me it's a great achievement because for me it's my first season here, and to reach this target it's great, it's great for my players.

“I'm telling you this because we started without Hazard and Costa, but not because I undervalued this game, because we have to play another game on Tuesday, and then against Everton, this week is crucial for us and for this reason I prepared the plan, I involved my players in this plan because when you have to take these strong decisions, it's important to give the right explanation why, why, and to be ready and I think our plan work very well because... not only for Eden and Costa but also for Cesc.