POL Chelsea Debate: England’s next manager, pre-season tour
By George Perry
What can we expect to see from Chelsea’s pre-season tour? Will we watch the learning curve of prospective starting XI , or will it be an extended audition for academy prospects and those “on the bubble?”
Andre: Antonio Conte’s ambition to return to the Champions League is best served by playing the first team as much as possible.
All of Conte’s systems rely on players on all three lines acting and reacting in concert. Given that this batch of players were only good enough to finish 10th last season, he’ll need the great ones playing at-level and the bulk of the rest playing above their averages (lookin’ at you, Ivanovic).
If the purported 3-4 new signings eventually roll in, the team will have to be well-oiled enough to slot them in with minimal lag.
Ejoh: Chelsea’s pre-season tour will largely be about Conte deciding on the players he wants to keep and on the formation he will most likely adopt once the season commences in earnest.
Chelsea faces a reduction in football-related revenue from the club’s absence from European competitions next season. The pre-season will focus on keeping the Chelsea FC brand in supporters’ mind. This would explain the choice of America despite the number of players involved in international duties this summer. Chelsea have a massive following in America and will want to take advantage of that to boost revenue for this season.
Ajitesh: I suspect that the first couple of games could see 11 players not quite sure about what they’re doing. It’s a quick turnaround and, with Conte’s unique tactics, it may take time for the squad to get used to the new styles.
Having said that, hopefully the younger players (whom Conte should afford time) will be more impressionable given their lack of involvement with previous first teams.
Barrett: The pre-season tour will be a combination of both. Everybody will start with a clean slate under Conte, which will be important as they’ll all be trying to earn spots under the new manager. It will be an early chance for him to try and teach his methods in a more relaxed environment as none of the matches count for anything.
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Elkebir: The two games in Austria will likely showcase a lot of youth as the Copa America and Euro 2016’s participants will come later for the US tour. With only 5 days at the helm prior to the first encounter against Rapid Wien, Conte will look more to “get a feeling” of the personnel and their fitness levels rather than off-the-go implement his tactics.
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Siva: The entire pre-season tour will be a long audition for every player involved as Conte decides on his squad for the season and tactical shape. Maybe some will be able to force their way into his plans, some may be shown the door.
The real tactical work will happen as the season progresses. We’ll see more and more of Conte’s playing style gradually on the pitch. I don’t expect him to turn everything around in a couple of weeks. The team should hit peak performance levels around October.
Ayushman: New players will be coming in as the squad needed an overhaul as they stagnated last season. I think youth will be integrated into the system also as Hiddink will be taking care of the transition of the youth from the academy to first team football. I see a Conte-Hiddink formula working on the background, which will help Chelsea both in terms of performances on the pitch and in the promotion of youth.
Daniel: As always with pre-season the youth will be incorporated into the line-up, especially in place of those who played in Euro 2016. This season in particular, though, the pre-season will be used to get the players accustomed to the new system and the work they have to put in for the whole 90 minutes.
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Hopefully the team uses the youth players in the right way. Instead of playing them to say “see remember that one game you played”, they should be saying “ok you were good enough to earn a start in the first 10 games of the season”.