Uneasy lies the head that wears the Premier League crown, and you can rest assured that Antonio Conte has already started to plan his title defence at Chelsea.
The confetti has barely settled in West London, but the armies of Manchester will use their vast resources to load up on ammunition, and they will lay siege to Stamford Bridge in an attempt to capture English football’s greatest prize.
The champions must also deal with the small matter of a young and hungry Spurs side, which is stacked with some of the brightest talents in world football, not to mention Arsenal and Liverpool who will once again emerge as dark horses.
Basically, the world’s most lucrative football property never sleeps, and if Conte doesn’t fine tune his team, he will be swept away by the might of his challengers. Without any further ado, here are five challenges that the Italian maestro must overcome to hold on to his crown.
#1 The looming departure of Diego Costa
Make no mistake about it, Diego Costa is the ideal striker for Antonio Conte’s system. The mercurial striker was clinical in front of goal during the first half of the season, and he eventually notched 20 strikes in his 34 Premier League appearances.
While Costa has hardly been prolific since the turn of the year, his overall play has still been instrumental to Chelsea’s success. The Spanish International's ability to hold the ball up under pressure has allowed the Blues’ wingbacks and inside forwards to overload the flanks in transition, and his link up play with Eden Hazard has also yielded significant dividends.
Should the 28-year-old move to China, the reigning Premier League Champions will lose an instrumental part of their lethal counterattack and might even have to consider a change in their style of play.
#2 Fat Cat Syndrome
In 2016/17, Chelsea won a record thirty games and registered one of the most impressive campaigns in Premier League history, but it was largely this same group of players that mounted a ghastly title defence in the previous season.
If it weren’t for the train wreck that was the Blues’ 2015/16 season, a fair wind wouldn’t have blown Antonio Conte to West London. He, of all people, should know that complacency has a habit of settling down at Stamford Bridge.
Therefore, it is imperative that the Italian imposes a strict regimen on his charges and keeps them motivated to win another title. No team has retained the Premier League crown since Manchester United in the 2008/09 season, so it’s fair to say that Chelsea have a mountain to climb if they want to repeat as champions.
#3 The advances of Real Madrid
Florentino Perez loves to make a statement, and several reports seem to indicate that he has his heart set on landing two of Chelsea’s most valuable assets in Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois. If the Belgians depart for Spanish shores, the West Londoners’ title hopes will be all but dead, and they will be forced to enter another rebuilding phase of sorts.
Replacements such as James Rodriguez and Jan Oblak are ripe for the picking, but Antonio Conte has stumbled upon a treasure chest with this team, and a diluted version of the 16/17 vintage cannot dream of retaining the title against formidable opposition.
#4 Over-reliance on N’Golo Kante
In the aftermath of Chelsea’s league win, the English media has seemingly fallen in love with the salvation of David Luiz. While the Brazilian International’s contributions have been nothing to scoff at, he certainly hasn’t been hurt by N’Golo Kante encompassing 60% of Earth’s landmass.
In fact, the newly crowned PFA player of the year has provided the platform for many of things that have set the Blues apart from the pack. If it weren’t for the French International’s tenacity, Chelsea certainly couldn’t play a two man midfield or boast the most lethal counter attack in the division.
Instead of just hoping and praying that Kante can stay at 100%, Antonio Conte needs to go back to the drawing board and develop some tactical flexibility that can help them remain functional in the absence of the former Leicester City ace.
#5 The journeymen conundrum
Chelsea’s wingbacks have undoubtedly played a pivotal role in the team’s Premier League victory, but no one came claim to have foreseen this level of production from Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso. After all, both of them have been journeymen for the majority of their careers, and the fact that Antonio Conte has converted them into Champions League quality players is nothing short of extraordinary.
However, the Italian tactician must now decide whether he can count on his new disciples to repeat their heroics from the year gone by. Should he forget, Leicester City’s squad was filled with journeymen, and they didn’t come close to mounting a respectable defence of their title.
It would most certainly behove the former Juventus manager to dip into the transfer market and secure a wingback who can keep his incumbent starters on their toes.
