Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma praised Antonio Conte and said the club's head coach "thinks, eats and sleeps football".
Conte's men are runaway Premier League leaders, holding a nine-point advantage atop the table through 24 games.
The France international lauded Conte's impact at Stamford Bridge and said the Italian lived for the game.
"He's a really nice guy. He thinks, eats and sleeps football. He talks football, everything is football with him. He's so passionate and he wants to give that to the players," Zouma told the Mirror.
"Tactically we watch a lot of videos and we learn. Details are important to him. He says, 'you can't be there, you need to be there because if the ball goes over you there you're dead, so just anticipate'.
"You learn a lot with him, a lot. The Italian style is very good for defenders."
"My first year at Chelsea we won the Capital One Cup and then the Premier League. I was dreaming," he said.
"But managers go. It's part of football. I don't feel guilty. Mourinho's gone, let's think about the future.
"It was a bad season, now we are doing well again. Conte loves what he does. He wants to give that special feeling to us. We need to love football like he does, to breathe football. That's what he wants."
