Football News: Chelsea Premier League season so far
Image from: geek-speaks.com
Results so far:
H v West Ham United 2-1
A v Watford 2-1
H v Burnley 3-0
A v Swansea City 2-2
H v Liverpool 1-2
A v Arsenal 0-3
A v Hull City 2-0
After the disaster of last season, almost anything would be an improvement this time around, but still, new manager Antonio Conte is not really convincing yet. While Chelsea fans will be hoping it is just a settling in process for their new Italian boss, there are signs that he has just been tactically outmatched, which was seen as a weakness in his time with Juventus. More worrying is his inability to see how best to use Nemanja Matic and N'Golo Kante, with the pair being used in each other's strongest roles.
If Conte will continue to stifle Kante, who was Europe's best central midfielder last season in his preferred role, then Chelsea's struggles will also continue. While Kante is stifled of his main strength, his mobility, Matic is being asked to provide the mobility in midfield, when mobility is his main weakness. Added to that, Branislav Ivanovic is still a regular, Gary Cahill is struggling badly and it is clear that Conte has a big job on his hands to rebuild a Chelsea team that had fallen into disrepair in recent years.
His first job is to replace the John Terry/Cahill backline, with Terry long past his best and Cahill incapable of playing with anyone else alongside him. That is no easy task, one that Chelsea have been trying to do for years now, with a long term injury to Kurt Zouma having hampered the change, and the reluctance to reduce Terry's role in the side making it difficult to bring anyone else into the team. It looks likely that Conte will change to a back three to give Terry an extra couple of seasons in the side. Will that work with the players in the squad?
The important thing is that Conte has turned the ship around, after last season's disaster, and put things back on an even keel. That was his main task for the season and, so far at least, he has done that well, putting them in the top half of the table and in contention for European football next season. With more money to spend in January, there is still a chance of the Pensioners pushing back into the top four, so long as Conte starts to use his players to their strengths.
Written by Tris Burke October 14 2016 07:16:26