With Conte’s arrival, the fans are understandably optimistic, but the Italian needs more additions to fill the gaping holes in the squad. Here is Chelsea News’ preview for the 2016/17 season…
The message is clear at Chelsea, with the focus firmly on the season ahead and the task at hand, not reminiscing the turmoil of 2015/16, but rather trying to forget. In Antonio Conte, the Blues have got themselves a fantastic coach in the reins at Stamford Bridge, with the hope that the 47-year-old mastermind will be able to work his magic and replicate the success he achieved in his first year at Juventus in London.
We can all believe that Conte is determined to bring Chelsea back on the top, and as his history tells, we can all say The Blues are in good hands at the moment. However, despite Conte being renowned for his ruthlessness, both on and off the field, the squad overhaul that many had suggested Conte had planned has not transpired. That in mind, it’s paramount that the club strengthen in the coming weeks.
Salvation is to come from new players, not present
Whilst many clubs have been making statements in the transfer market, left, right and centre, Chelsea have stood still since they announced N’Golo Kanté in the middle of July. It’s normally Abramovich who opens his chequebook and does the lavish spending in the off-season, but the cash both Manchester clubs have splashed is unparalleled to any other side that is expected to fight for the title this season.
Only two new faces have arrived at SW6, with the predicted line-ups for this season only including one new addition—N’Golo Kanté. This is largely the same squad that finished 10th last season, with José Mourinho, and his players, unable to recover from this extraordinary decline until the real damage was done—the Blues slumped to 17th and Mourinho was sacked.
Conte has mostly the same tools as Chelsea last season, and with them, he can’t fix the cracks. This is the same crop of players that Conte is depending on to deliver results, to make a solid start in the Premier League, if they can maintain that start, if they can become league champions. Although he is adamant we will be contenders, Conte and Chelsea are nowhere near good enough to wrestle the title back to the Bridge this season: it may sound pessimistic, but it’s the harsh reality. If we finish third, or even fourth, that should be more than satisfactory for the fans, taking into account everything that’s happened in the last 12 months and the fierce level of competition in the league nowadays.
As I said, a mass overhaul seemed inevitable, but has not materialized. Transfer business has not gone how fans expected, or, in fact, hoped. Instead of splashing the cash and remodeling the look of his squad entirely, Conte has taken the approach of evaluating his players throughout pre-season, then acting in the market, or even deciding to put his faith in the current personnel at hand, with the departures just two sleeps before the Premier League opener on Monday the very definition of inevitability.
Chelsea still need more recruitments, and no performance—even if they beat West Ham 5-0 in their first game—can change that. There are still plenty of frailties within the squad. Even if Kalidou Koulibaly does join to bolster the defence, it isn’t enough. To become serious title contenders, we need two or three new, top-drawer defenders, another promising midfielder and a prolific No.9.
It’s not like the midfield is an area of weakness, Conte has seven central midfield options—Cesc Fábregas, N’Golo Kanté, Nemanja Matić, Oscar, Jon Obi Mikel, Nathaniel Chalobah and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, plus the possible addition of box-to-box Brazilian Thiago Maia, who has been the best midfielder for Brazil in the Olympics.
The reason for Chelsea needing another midfielder isn’t necessarily just to strengthen it, it’s about adding depth, too.
There’s still a layer of uncertainty surrounding which midfielders will stay at Stamford Bridge so, we need more depth if one or two leave in the coming weeks—Maia is similar to Kanté in many aspects and would allow the Frenchman to do what he does best, in central midfield as a box-to-box. Maia could slot into a more deeper role.
It’s all about the right tailor for the suit
There are positives to pluck out ahead of the new season. In pre-season, the flamboyant Italian has definitely been a highlight, and there has been visible progress since the 2-0 loss to Rapid Vienna. Conte has implemented double training sessions ahead of Chelsea’s biggest campaign of the Roman Abramovich era, with stark improvements on the players’ physical fitness and their desire to work. Plus, though it isn’t perfect, Conte has struck an attractive balance between free-flowing and counter-attacking football.
His techniques and methods, blended with the players’ qualities, have left signs of encouragement. Pre-season isn’t a reflection of what happens from then onwards by any means—see 2009/10 under Carlo Ancelotti, our good pre-season during the André Villas-Boas era in 2011/12 or Spurs in 2008/09 under Juande Ramos—so we won’t get too carried away.
Conte has tested a variety of systems, such as the 4-2-4, the traditional 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3, 4-1-4-1 and even a 4-1-2-3. Chelsea have persisted with 4-2-3-1 for the past five seasons, so to see “The Godfather” bringing that kind of tactical flexibility to the table is refreshing.
It looks like Eden Hazard is back to his best. Diego Costa’s movement has been sublime on occasions. N’Golo Kanté, who signed for £33 million from Leicester, has his faults but brings solidity and his ball-winning traits to the midfield. The youngsters have also been impressive, with Ola Aina bound to contend for a full-back spot in the forthcoming campaign and Nathaniel Chalobah capable of providing plenty of mobility and strength to the central midfield berth when called upon.
Who’s the key to and who’s not?
Chelsea were missing a lot of their main men who eventually led the team for the league title two seasons ago, as Hazard disappeared completely, while Diego Costa, Fabregas, Matic and the whole back-four were all struggling to keep up their form when we most needed them.
At least we had Willian to rely on, as he bagged goals from free-kicks all-around the pitch. I’m also hoping for him to pop up this season with some great performances, as he looked quite convincing during pre-season.
Hazard and Diego Costa were linking up beautifully in Chelsea’s last pre-season friendly against Werder Bremen last Sunday, and if the same thing goes on during season, both star attackers will be tipped to make it high in the league’s top goalscorers’ list.
Kante on the other hand was one of Leicester’s key players in their Premier League triumph last season, and could prove to be the transfer of the season if he keeps going like that! Matic, if rejuvenated well enough by Conte, can also have the potential to reach his peaking 2015/16 form, and help us going places.
Defence can still tear us completely apart
Without any further reasoning – defence. Defence, defence and again, defence, is our biggest weakness at the moment. We were once known as the best defending team in Europe for bringing the Bus Parking tactic back to life – successively of course, winning the Champions League in Roberto Di Matteo’s charge in 2012 – but those days are far afield, as we all know what happened to us last season.
Branislav Ivanovic is trying his best to win the fans over his side, but has continuously failed miserably for his inconsistency, while John Terry isn’t going to get any faster, and Gary Cahill any younger. Cesar Azpilicueta can still be seen as a trustworthy, solid full-back, but his performances were no better from others’ last season.
New signings are needed, but as you already read from the chapters above. Not only one new defender, but at least two first-team competitors are required.
Aiming for TOP4 or above?
Despite Chelsea fans being very hopeful of the club seriously contending for the title under the new boss, I’m skeptic enough to say our honest aim should be finishing in the top four, and guaranteeing ourselves the bounce-back to 2017/18’s Champions League campaign.
We do have the right boss to provoke miracles, but due to our lack of transfer business, the team is still too similar to the one that finished tenth in the Premier League last season. Many things can still happen, but I’ve seen enough to make my call on where we’ll finish.
Predicted XI (4-3-3): Courtois; Ivanovic, Terry, Cahill, Azpilicueta; Kante, Fabregas, Matic; Hazard, Costa, Willian.
Predicted League Position: 4th
