Chelsea | Season 2016/17 preview.

Will Conte succeed at Chelsea?

Chelsea have a lot to improve since the last season, when the team had its worst campaign for the last 20 years (Chelsea collected 50 points and finished in 11th place in 1996). Their new manager – Antonio Conte is expected to bring the glory back to Stamford Bridge! For sure, it will be a very interesting campaign, in which Chelsea can only return to the winning path.

The Blues will surely take advantage of the less amount of matches, because of their failure to qualify for the European club tournaments. But can they win the league title again?

The Transfers:

There are two big names, who arrived at Stamford Bridge – N’Golo Kante and Michy Batshuayi. The Frenchman had a great campaign, winning the Premier League with Leicester City and taking part in the Euro 2016. He costed £32 m. The forward Batshuayi is only 22 years old, but is a very talented and powerful player. The forward scored a goal for Belgium at the Euro 2016 in only 21 minutes of playing time. He bagged 17 goals for Marseille last season. So, both players are really good signings and will be very helpful for Chelsea.

Furthermore, The Blues kept all their first team players and they can build on their team in the upcoming season. For sure, the competition for the starting eleven places will be very keen!

Key Players:

Even though Chelsea have great individual players, the tactics will be built on players like Matic, Kante and Mikel. They are the hard-workers in the team and will be of a big importance for The Blues.

John Terry, who is the most experienced player in Chelsea’s squad will be the inspirer. 35-year-old defender is expected to play one of his last campaigns for Chelsea, but he will probably be among the starting line-up. Alongside with him, the Champions League winners from 2012 – Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic are going to keep the strikers quiet.

Thibaut Courtois missed a lot of matches last season due to injuries and suspensions. He also made lots of mistakes, which led to conceding goals. In comparison, Courtois conceded 27 goals in 23 matches last season – the same number as in 2014/15, but then he played in 32 games.

Eden Hazard and Willian will try to bring back their best form. The Belgian winger must work hard to repeat his performance from season 2014/15, when he scored 14 league goals and was one of the key players for The Blues. The Brazilian midfielder showed a really big improvement in his free-kicks, but there is still a lot to show. In addition, the fans expect much more goals from team’s top goal-scorer Diego Costa, who found the net on only 12 occasions in the Premiership last season.

Probable Starting XI:

• 4-2-3-1: Thibaut Courtois; Branislav Ivanovic, John Terry, Gary Cahill, Azpilicueta (Abdul Baba); N’Golo Kante, Nemanja Matic (John Obi Mikel); Eden Hazard, Oscar (Cesc Fabregas), Willian (Pedro); Diego Costa (Michy Batshuayi).

The History:

The Blues have won the Premiership title on 5 occasions, 4 of which are during the last 12 seasons. Chelsea recorded their biggest success in their history in 2012, when they lifted the Champions League trophy. Now, The Blues will compete only on the domestic scene and will try to win their 6th Premier League title.

The Expectations:

Antonio Conte will hardly apply his scheme to the Premier League. He is known for his 3-5-2 tactics, with a more defensive approach (the left and the right midfielders are used as fullbacks when needed). In my opinion, he will stick to nowadays’ most famous tactics 4-2-3-1. Conte is also expected to change the scheme to 4-1-4-1. However, the manager knows best what tactics to use against every single team.

The fans expect the Premier League title! They were very disappointed with the poor Chelsea’s performance last season, when the team finished in 10th position and couldn’t win a single trophy. Now, Chelsea won’t take part in the Champions League and the players will be focused only on their performance in the league. So, they can become one of the main contenders for the title!

We know that when you have great players with great talent like Hazard in the team, the expectations are very high. Also, when the season before you have won the title and Hazard has been named the best player in the league. It’s important for us to recover Hazard in the best condition: technique, tactical, physical, overall and with the good mentality.Antonio Conte