5 ways Chelsea can keep up with the Manchester clubs

While the Premier League title in 2016/17 went to Stamford Bridge and Chelsea, the general consensus right now – and the current Premier League table tends to agree – is that the power balance in English football lies firmly within Manchester.

City and United currently have the two managers with the biggest reputations in Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho and they’ve also shown time and time again that they’re willing to spend the most money in order to secure some of the world’s best players. Can anyone keep up with them?

Chelsea would like to think so, but right now it’s up in the air. Here are five steps they could take in order to make a good attempt, though.

#1. Look to their youth

Mason Mount is just one talented Chelsea youngster

It’s quite telling that in the period in which they had their most success – multiple Premier League titles and FA Cups, as well as a Champions League victory in 1999 – the spine of Manchester United’s team had come from their youth academy, the now-legendary ‘Class of 92’. While imports such as Roy Keane, Peter Schmeichel and Jaap Stam also played a massive part in the success, it was the likes of David Beckham, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs who really drove the team.

In modern-day Premier League football, it’s becoming harder and harder for youth players to break through, especially at the top level, as it’s much more commonplace for big clubs to simply buy players rather than develop them. But does this always guarantee success? The answer is no. And that’s why Chelsea should break the trend and look to their youth.

Right now English youth teams are clearly the best in the world, as the victories this year in the u17 World Cup, u19 European Championship, and u20 World Cup showed. And a lot of those players came from Chelsea’s ranks – including the likes of Mason Mount, Jay Dasilva and Fikayo Tomori. That isn’t even bringing into discussion slightly older players from Chelsea’s youth ranks such as Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tammy Abraham, as well as overseas youngsters like Charly Musonda and Andreas Christensen.

Recently Chelsea have had a diabolical record in bringing youth players through to their first team, but by providing a proper pathway for their young stars to succeed, they could sow the seeds of future success that may well allow them to overtake the Manchester sides in the near future – especially if those two teams continue to misuse their own young talent.

#2. Build a dynasty

Antonio Conte could build a true dynasty at Stamford Bridge

One thing that the Manchester clubs may well suffer with, in the near future, is their selection of managers. Granted, both Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola bring massive reputations and often instant success follows, but it’s a well-known fact that both men are probably short-term managers at best.

Mourinho only ever tends to stay at a club for three or four seasons, while Guardiola has outright suggested in the past that he likes a three or four-year “project” before moving on.

This short term-ism is fine for success in the here and now, but a way for Chelsea to overtake the two sides could be to look to build a dynasty – similar to the one created by Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United and – albeit with less success – Arsene Wenger at Arsenal. Is current boss Antonio Conte the right man to do this?

I honestly don’t see why not. Conte has shown himself to be a master tactician, deciding on a three-man defence last season and a development of wing-backs that practically won his side the Premier League title. And the big job that might’ve interested him – the Italian national side – was the one he left to join Chelsea.

Right now, things don’t always look good in terms of the relationship between Conte and the Blues’ brass, but it’d be a smart idea for Chelsea to correct that and look to allow the Italian boss to create a true dynasty at Stamford Bridge. It might not allow Chelsea to overcome the powers of Guardiola and Mourinho instantly, but with a little more time on his side then Conte certainly has the ability to do that.

#3. Spend big when they have to

Alvaro Morata was Chelsea's biggest summer signing in 2017

One criticism of Chelsea’s summer spending was that they simply didn’t spend quite enough to repair some of the holes in their squad. Sure, Alvaro Morata, Antonio Rudiger and Tiemoue Bakayoko all appear to be settling in well and Davide Zappacosta and Danny Drinkwater may well develop into hits in time. But in comparison to the insane spending of the Manchester sides, Chelsea’s summer was practically silent.

That didn’t sit well with Antonio Conte from most sources, and it probably didn’t sit well with Blues fans either. While Roman Abramovich was known in his early days as one of the biggest spending chairmen out there, in recent seasons he’s curbed his spending quite a lot.

That’s his prerogative, but if he wants Chelsea to keep up with the Manchester clubs then that needs to change. And realistically, would he be blowing his own money anyway? Probably not – Chelsea have enough revenue coming through from various sources to be able to spend big anyway.

While it’d be an excellent idea for Chelsea to make full use of their outstanding youth talent, they also can’t let the Manchester clubs shoot ahead by spending far more money. If Chelsea really want to keep up with them, then they’ve got to splash the cash on players in the same way they did around a decade ago, when Abramovich first came to the club.

And it’s no good using a lot of small packages to buy multiple players – I’m talking about potentially breaking the world transfer fee record – as Manchester United did last season – to buy the world’s best.

#4. Take control of London

It's crucial that Chelsea stay ahead of fellow London sides like Tottenham

While this article is all about the ways Chelsea could keep up with the Manchester sides, it’d be a good idea for them to look a little closer to home, too. Right now Chelsea are the most successful club in London, but it’s not always been like that and the tide could easily turn again, too.

Just over a decade ago that spot firmly belonged to Arsenal – a spot they’d love to take back - and right now Tottenham Hotspur are making a good push at stealing that spot, too.

So how exactly do Chelsea ensure they stay ahead? Well, they have one advantage in that they’re already the most popular London side in the world – according to studies they have around 200m worldwide fans, compared to 142m for Arsenal and less than that for Tottenham.

And in terms of recent success, they’re leaps and bounds ahead in terms of the Premier League, as Tottenham have never won the title while it’s been years since Arsenal’s last league win.

2017 saw Arsenal defeat the Blues in the FA Cup final, however, and with both the Gunners and Spurs chasing hard, it’s important that Chelsea ensure they remain focused on the London side of things, too.

Whether that means putting stronger sides out in London derbies than they might usually, or even stealing players from under their capital rivals’ noses, it doesn’t matter. Take control of London, and Chelsea’s target of overhauling the Manchester sides becomes much easier.

#5. Keep a balance and don’t spread too thinly

The return of Gary Cahill contributed to Chelsea's defensive collapse against Roma

With Chelsea currently in three competitions – the Premier League, the Champions League, and the Carabao Cup – with the FA Cup to follow as a fourth, it’s important that they try to keep a balance if they want to keep up with the Manchester sides, this season in particular. It’s no secret that the Blues have a smaller squad than those two sides, and so it’d be a smart idea for Antonio Conte to ensure that he chooses his teams carefully.

Last night saw Chelsea collapse to a 3-0 loss at Roma, and it was telling that the game saw another change to the Blues’ defence following their weekend win over Everton. This time Gary Cahill was reinstated to the back three, shunting Cezar Azpilicueta out wide, and rather than following up an impressive victory, Chelsea collapsed in painful fashion.

Conte may have masterminded the use of the three-man defence last season but what he seems to be struggling with this time is actually having a settled side for the trickiest and most important games. We’ve seen with successful sides before that while correct usage of a squad is all well and good, building a strong, consistent spine for your team is quite often more important when it comes to ensuring the big games are the ones you win.

Rather than constant fiddling, it could be an idea for Conte to use one set of players for the bigger games – i.e. Champions League and Premier League – and another for the two cup competitions, where injuries allow of course. It’d allow for more consistency, which could be the key to overhauling the Manchester sides.