Videos taken from behind the dugout at Stamford Bridge showed Conte hauling Angelo Alessio down the touchline by his coat after a breakdown in their set-piece marking.

Conte reveals how he dealt with Costa

The Blues were comfortable 3-1 winners on Saturday, all but ending Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes, but Conte admitted Alessio was often the victim of his pursuit of perfection.

Conte told Sky Sport Italia: “When I see something that isn’t going right, I am capable of murdering anyone!

“I was angry because [N’Golo] Kante was supposed to track back in place of [Victor] Moses, who had gone into the box to mark the sixth Arsenal man on the corner.

“He didn’t do that and I took it out on Alessio. He’s been my right-hand man and thus, unfortunately, my victim for many years.”

Conte believes he has been able to turn Chelsea from a mid-table side under Jose Mourinho and Guus Hiddink last season into champions-elect thanks to an unwavering belief in his own ideas.

“I have blind faith in what I do,” he added. “We had won the first three games, but I didn’t like the performances. It was a delicate time, but not dramatic.

“Looking at last season, when Chelsea had practically the same players, you cannot immediately transform from ugly ducking into a swan. At the end of the day, we found our balance.

“The blind faith in my ideas helped. I made some strong choices.”

The Italian is not, however, prepared to claim that the Blues have the title in the bag having built up a nine-point lead over second-placed Tottenham.

“There is no one particular team that worries me more,” Conte said. “The experience of being a player really helps. I won the Champions League, but I also lost other finals and that made me more determined to win.

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“You can’t talk about the title yet, as anything could still happen. Just look at us: Chelsea were struggling at the start and turned the whole season around. We’ve got to stay calm.

“[On Sunday] Manchester City beat Swansea with two minutes to go and I would’ve preferred that game end in a draw.”