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The Premier league is now more competitive than ever. Manchester City and Liverpool pushing each other to near perfection, while Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United battle it out for the other two Champions League spots. Leicester City, Wolves and Watford were there competing for the Europa League spots. We surely did witness one of the greatest seasons of Premier League football and it is just going to get more feisty moving forward.
Wolves beat all four teams competing for European glory this season, with everyone thinking is it possible for any team to break into the top six. Chelsea almost certain to face the two-window transfer ban look like the most likely to fall out of the top 6 if they don't play it smart. Manchester United, Arsenal and now Tottenham have been linked with a boatload of players and are certain to strengthen their squad in the transfer window. Chelsea though doesn't have this luxury.
That being said, here are the three things Chelsea needs to do to weather the storm of the transfer ban.
#1 Keep Sarri
Sarri has definitely done a commendable job in his first season as Chelsea boss. Having secured a third-place finish and taken his side to a League cup and Europa League final, his job should be more than secure. Unfortunately for him, the performances of club legend Frank Lampard seems to have turned everyone's head and have called for him to take on the job as Chelsea manager come August.
As good as Lampard has done as Derby boss, he isn't ready for the Chelsea job. Derby just about scraped through to a spot in the playoffs, to begin with as they finished just a point clear of Middlesbrough. Again, they made it to the playoff final beating Bielsa's Leeds side after losing the first leg. Now they face Aston Villa in the final of the playoffs. The Chelsea job will always be there for Lampard, but it's just too soon for him.
Moreover what Sarri is doing is needed for the club. Moving away from their old school defensive, counter-attacking football to a more attractive possession-based football. Incorporating the likes of Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Andreas Christensen into the first-team. He is, in a way preparing the team and the club for when Lampard is ready to take over, in time.
#2 Trust the youth
Chelsea's youth sides have been phenomenal in their competitions. Winning the Youth Leagues, FA Cups, Champions Leagues. They are one of the most consistent academies, churning out talents year after year. For a while now the club has been known to produce talents but then these players never find a way to break into the first team.
Chelsea has had a history of spending big and buying ready-made players to replace outgoing ones. This forces the talents coming through the ranks at Chelsea to find pastures elsewhere. The likes of Nathan Ake, Ola Aina, Dominic Solanke and Bertrand Traore who all had the potential to play for the first team but just didn't get enough opportunities to fight for a spot in the first team.
This ban might just be a blessing in disguise. Players like Tammy Abraham, Mitchi Batshuayi, Mason Mount, Reece James and Fikayo Tomori among others are set to be called back and given a chance to stake their claims of being good enough to represent the Chelsea badge.
For decades Chelsea has been taunted and mocked for not having their own players represent their club, it may be the right time to change that.
#3 Sort out the hierarchy
More than on-field troubles it is the problems in the board room that is taking the club backwards. A lack of clarity in where the club needs to be, constant issues with the managers and a lack of a Director of Football or a position as such who looks after the working of the club is seeing the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham catch up to the Blues.
Currently, the club lacks a plan and sacking Sarri is the least of their worries as the problems clearly lie above him. To start with the absence of a Sporting Director means that baring the board no one knows who exactly is responsible for the signings coming in. There seems to be no form of communication between the board and the manager when comes to signings. It started with Mourinho, then with Conte and now with Sarri, all of them constantly complained about not getting the players they wanted. In spite of that, Chelsea has spent big on the likes of Morata, Bakayoko, Drinkwater and Zappacosta who have all failed at the club.
Chelsea needs to get their act right soon or they might just lose their pulling power over top players and managers. Over the years the club had success to paper over the systemic problems, but with constant wars between the managers and the board, why would a top manager want to come to Chelsea, knowing that he will be blamed for preexisting problems? Hazard's imminent departure is another sign that players of his quality will look elsewhere when it comes moving to a "big" club.
As the club will have some time away from the transfer market, the heirarchy should lookto fix these by the time the club is ready to come back into the market
