With Alvaro Morata en route to Singapore, Chelsea have their starting XI in hand, a few injuries notwithstanding. Antonio Conte can now work on choosing and developing his depth players that will round out the squad this season.
Injuries to Eden Hazard and Tiemoue Bakayoko will force Antonio Conte to open the season with a less-than-preferred starting XI. Neither player will have to compete for a place in Chelsea’s squad once they recover. Their place-holders, however, will hope that their stand-in performances keeps them high on the depth chart or earns them a place elsewhere in the lineup.
Conte still has a few decisions to make regarding his starting XI, but he finally has all the players he needs. Chelsea’s preseason tour is as much about determining who will provide depth at each position as who will be on the pitch at kick-off.
Antonio Conte showed last year the impact pre-season can have on a player’s season. Even though Victor Moses did not debut as Chelsea’s right wing-back until October 1, his performance in July and early August put him in line for his dominant season on the flank. Likewise, albeit to a lesser extent, Nathaniel Chalobah earned his way out of a seventh loan over the summer.
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The majority of players on tour with Chelsea right now are vying for that middle ground between the starting XI and the loan army. They will be the substitutes – perhaps of the time-wasting variety. They will have to wait for the EFL Cup and then the FA Cup for their starts. If Chelsea take a commanding lead in the Champions League group stage, they may see their European debut.
For a player like Lewis Baker, this may feel like a step down. He had two stand-out seasons at Vitesse, with 23 starts in his first year and 33 in the second. Baker will now sit behind N’Golo Kante and Tiemoue Bakayoko in the depth chart. He will compete against Cesc Fabregas for game time. He could make appearances for Chelsea in four competitions next season and still have only a fraction of the minutes he enjoyed at Vitesse.
For Kenedy, Chelsea are finally in a tactical system that suits his unique strengths and potential. Kenedy has the makings of the next great wing-back – not just at Chelsea, but in Europe. He has to prove himself in pre-season so he can avoid another year on loan. Kenedy has to take advantage of every opportunity to learn from Antonio Conte, and then immediately convert those lessons into challenging Marcos Alonso.
Kenedy should study Cesc Fabregas’ example from last season. Fabregas patiently and professionally sat the bench for a long spell. When Conte finally sent him on the pitch, Fabregas played as though he had not missed a minute. Fabregas showed how hard he trained and how much he desired his place in the lineup. If a Champions League and World Cup winner could do it, Kendy absolutely must.
Fikayo Tomori, Kyle Scott and Jake Clarke-Salter will need a herculean effort to avoid a loan. Scott, in particular, is a surprise addition to the pre-season squad. If any of them stay with Chelsea this season it will represent a significant step forward for the academy, let alone their individual careers. They will move towards fulfilling the potential and expectations that brought them to Cobham as schoolboys.
Antonio Conte only rotated his squad out of necessity last season. Even in the FA Cup, once Chelsea drew a Championship opponent Conte maintained his Premier League line-up.
The Champions League will create more playing opportunities. However, that does not guarantee that Conte will distribute them with any level of parity. Chelsea’s physio staff did a remarkable job keeping the squad healthy last season. Antonio Conte could very well continue his trend of minimizing his lineup changes.
This means Chelsea’s depth players must have the proper attitude as well as the ability to fill in as necessary. Being a depth player under Antonio Conte requires a different level of endurances than his starters. A player may spend weeks or months on the bench – perhaps not even in the matchday squad – until the moment his club needs him.
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Antonio Conte will make decisions in the next five weeks, the outcomes of which may not be apparent until next year. He will be watching closely in the coming weeks for the habits and body language that complement tactics and techniques.