5 things that went wrong for Chelsea this season

After the eye-catching performance last season, wherein they recorded a 13 consecutive league wins, ending the season as the Premier league champions, no one expected the Blues to drop their form a season later. But, the fact is that this Chelsea side is not even a shadow of what they were last season.

The whole atmosphere that made them champions a season before has changed drastically. Chelsea has lost their urgency, intensity and hunger for winning, this term. Even by looking at their manager Antonio Conte, we could see the difference. Now nobody could see the gestures and passion that Conte had last season.

Coming to the players, except the star man Eden Hazard and the centre-back Andreas Christensen, no one seems to be performing at their best. So, let us look into the factors which went wrong for the blues this season.

#1 Injuries

Pedro is the latest to etch his name on the injury list

Unlike last season, this term Chelsea are facing many injury concerns and still have major players sidelined with the fitness issues. While on international duty with Belgium, Eden Hazard fractured his right ankle and, consequently, was ruled out for three months, because of which he missed the start of the 2017–18 season.

Without their star man, Chelsea suffered a nightmare start to their Premier League title defence, losing 3–2 at home to Burnley.

Chelsea signed Danny Drinkwater this summer but he was also injured and sidelined for about two months. Alvaro Morata suffered a hamstring injury early in the match against Manchester City and was taken off and consequently the Blues ended up losing the match.

They also lost N'Golo Kante with the same injury during the international break, which hampered their momentum.

In the January transfer window, Chelsea signed another Englishman in Ross Barkley, but he was also recovering back from a nasty injury due to which he lost the entire first half of the season. Chelsea currently is without their main striker Morata, who is now again sidelined because of a back injury.

Pedro has now joined the list of their injury concerns and was taken off during the recent match against Watford. Chelsea has dropped points a lot this term, most of which were when they were unable to field their full strength team.

#2 Being predictable

Chelsea is now too predictable tactically for the opponents.

Last season, Conte surprised everyone with the tactical switch to a three-man defence after consecutive losses against Liverpool and Arsenal. That change in tactics was the main reason behind the League success for the blues.

Most of the teams failed to cope up with this tactical switch from the Italian manager and Chelsea went on winning 13 consecutive league matches, which helped them gain a fine lead at the top before others could get adjusted to the new system.

But this term, the same tactics have backfired. Every team now has found the way to play against them as the teams are shifting to the same method against Chelsea and are able to make things difficult for the Blues.

Conte has not made any big tactical changes except switching from 3-4-3 to 3-5-2 occasionally against bigger oppositions.

Whenever the opposition were able to push the Chelsea wing-backs back to the defensive half, Chelsea's attacking pedigree reduced to a great extent. Chelsea this term is very much predictable for the opponents tactically. Conte needs to come up with some kind of surprise if they need to fight for some trophies this term.

#3 Inefficient transfers

Chelsea sold Matic to United and brought in Bakayoko who is now struggling at Chelsea.

Few transfers Chelsea made this season doesn't make much sense. They have made some mistakes when they entered into the transfer market after the title-winning campaign last season. And these lapses have happened from their manager and the board.

One of the most important players who helped them to become the champions last term was Diego Costa. If Conte handled the situation more professionally, Chelsea wouldn't have lost their most lethal weapon. If losing Costa was a mistake from Conte, losing Nemanja Matic to Manchester United should be pinned on the board.

Chelsea, who added Tiemoue Bakayoko to their ranks, then sold Matic to title rivals United for £40 million and brought in Danny Drinkwater for £35 million, which simply doesn't make any sense. Chelsea are now not able to control the games in the midfield as Bakayoko is not able find the form he had at Monaco last term.

Meanwhile, Matic's arrival has given freedom for Pogba at United. Also, they sold Nathan Ake to Bournemouth and Loaned out Kurt Zouma to Stoke City. Both youngsters are on fire this term for their respective clubs as Chelsea finding it hard to shore up their defence.

#4 Lack of rotation

Musonda is one among the Chelsea players who has not given enough time to prove the worth.

Last season it was easier for Conte as the Blues were not in European competitions. But this term Chelsea have more competitions to fight for and thus, fixtures naturally gets tighter. In many games this season we have seen a tired Chelsea team.

Conte repeatedly says that he has got a small squad this season but what needs to be seen is that he is not giving some players enough game-time to prove their worth.

Charly Musonda is a very talented attacker Conte had at his disposal. Musonda had two great seasons on loan at Real Betis and was arguably one of their best performers during the period.

Still, he was given only three substitute appearances comprising a total of just 35 minutes in the Premier League this season. He was handed just two starts this term, both coming in the Carabao cup in which he scored one goal too.

We know that Mitchy Batshuayi has never replicated the form he had at Marseille. But he has done enough to put more trust on him.

He has only made 26 appearances of which 14 were as a substitute this term and has scored 12 goals. Now he is loaned out to Borussia Dortmund, where he has already scored two goals and one assist in his debut match.

Bakayoko's performances have been mediocre in his debut season and Conte does have the experienced Drinkwater, who is in better form. But still, he is starting the Frenchman ahead of the former Leicester City player. Conte should start experimenting with the squad sooner rather than later lest he may see himself facing the sack.

#5 Fight between Conte and the Board

Conte's rift with the board has influenced the performance of the team as well.

Conte and Chelsea board are not in good terms since the start of this season. The reason behind the dispute between both is the player transfers. Conte made Chelsea, who were tenth a season before Premier League champions in his debut season in English top flight.

Everyone expected the club to provide the funds and players Conte asks for, the following season. But what happened surprised all. Chelsea who were known for their spendings on transfers before, has changed a lot. They are now not spending blindly on their targets as the Manchester clubs and PSG.

As a result, they have missed out on many targets they were linked with. Radja Nainggolan, Alex Sandro, Leonardo Bonucci, Kalidou Koulibaly, Andrea Belotti were all primary transfer targets for Conte.

Chelsea failed to land any of them as the talks broken down as the club was unwilling to spend the big fee that was asked. Even on the deadline day of the summer transfer window, Fernando Llorente was a main player Conte was looking for to provide a backup for Morata.

Chelsea even lost the talks related to his transfer as he signed for the city rivals Tottenham in the final hours. Conte, as a result, is not at all happy at Chelsea and we could even see that in his appearance near the touchline.

He was very passionate and energetic last year. But now he looks very different. The whole Chelsea team is reflecting this change in Conte in their performance, a worrying sign for the club.