With Antonio Conte appointed as Chelsea FC’s next boss, join us as we take an extensive look at the mammoth task that awaits him at Stamford Bridge.
Welcome to the first part of a series in which we preview Antonio Conte’s reign as Chelsea FC boss. The Italian has much work to do over the summer and into next season as he looks to turn this failing club around. This article sets the background, as we face the facts that this poor campaign provides us.
Part One: Facing Facts
It is quite clear by now: the Blues’ hopes of competing in Europe next season died with the exits from both the UEFA Champions League and the English FA Cup to Paris St. Germain and Everton respectively in just a space of three days. The manner of the elimination from both competitions, coupled with the club’s abysmal defence of both the Premier League title and the Capital One Cup, has been embarrassing to say the least.
Interim boss, Guus Hiddink, has tried to talk up Chelsea FC’s chances of qualifying for the Europa League via the league table. But this plan hinges on the team winning all of the remaining seven fixtures, which includes home ties against three of the current top four teams (Leicester City, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspurs) and an away fixture against Liverpool, none of which the Blues have defeated so far this season.
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Also, Manchester City’s penalty shoot-out victory against Liverpool in the Capital One Cup means that either team will take one of the automatic slots for the 2nd tier European competition, even if Man City fail to take one of the four UCL slots. And Chelsea FC’s poor disciplinary record in the league this season (the Blues have amassed three red cards along with numerous yellows) means that they won’t even get the automatic Fair Play slot as well.
Finally, of the five teams currently left in the FA Cup, only Manchester United and West Ham are currently in the top six on the league table, and one will be eliminated when both sides meet in the quarter-final replay at Upton Park. As Watford, Crystal Palace and Everton are not likely to finish anywhere near the top six based on current form, any one of these three teams reaching the final further limits Chelsea’s chances.
To cut the long story short, it is not far-fetched to state that Chelsea FC’s pre-season preparations actually begin immediately after the international break! The club’s decision to announce the location and opponents for next season’s official pre-season preparations on its official website with two months of the season still left to play indicates clearly that it shares my sentiments as well.
And the way I see it anyway, a year away from the UCL is not as disastrous as many would like to make it seem. The last four years in the competition since the miracle of Munich in 2012 have been leading up to the situation currently facing the club.
Save for the 2013/2014 season when they were eliminated in the semi-final by La Liga champions Atletico Madrid, the Blues have failed to make it past the first knock-out stage in three 0f the last four editions. They were even knocked out at the group stage while defending the trophy they won in 2012.
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All in all, the facts don’t lie and they don’t paint a rosy picture. Having got the preliminaries out of the way, the next part in this series focuses on the outlook for next season. With the Premier League as competitive as ever, will Antonio Conte be able to break into the top four again?