Chelsea started Wednesday’s game without Eden Hazard or Cesar Azpilicueta, and finished it without Antonio Conte. When all you need is a win against Swansea, sometimes less than your best will do.
The last time Cesar Azpilicueta watched from the bench as Chelsea played a Premier League fixture, the manager only lasted one more game. Azpilicueta’s previous exclusion from a Premier League XI was December 5, 2015. The Blues lost 1-0 to Bournemouth. Eleven days later Leicester City defeated Chelsea, spelling the end of Jose Mourinho’s sequel.
Antonio Conte was sent off for the first time at Stamford Bridge against Swansea. Hopefully that will be the only the managerial exit this time around.
Conte’s decision to rest Azpilicueta and Eden Hazard and play in the 3-4-3 suggests a recognition that he cannot always play his best XI without dangerously degrading that lineup. Hazard said earlier in the week he has to lighten his training intensity so he can recover from the hacks he now receives several times a week.
An injury to Hazard, Azpilicueta or N’Golo Kante would be signficantly detrimental to the club’s performance and likely fatal to their title hopes. Conte must minimize their exposure to potential injury and maximize their time to recover whenever the opportunity presents itself. Hosting the 19th-place team in late November is a gift of such an opportunity.
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Chelsea played as efficiently as possible against Swansea. They did not press high and hard when Swansea had the ball in their own half. The Blues’ wingers did not harass Swansea’s ball-carriers and the defenders did not go in hard on tackles. Swansea made this task easy by having little possession and doing even less with their time on the ball until the last 15 minutes. Renato Sanches did more to help Chelsea’s economy in the first half than anyone on the pitch.
The Blues could have run up the score with a bit more effort in the first half. They could have gone into the break 3-0 if they had played against Swansea the way they played against Liverpool, Qarabag or West Bromwich Albion. But they did not need a 3-0 lead. In fact, they did not need a halftime lead at all.
This was a calculated risk by Antonio Conte. The odds of Swansea scoring their eighth goal of the season against a team that has allowed only 11 were acceptably low. Even if the Swans somehow managed the feat, Conte had every reason to believe that Alvaro Morata would score his ninth (or more) of the season to keep the three points alive. He also has the luxury of Eden Hazard in reserve, ready to come on for 10, 20 or 45 minutes as necessary.
Despite the question at his pre-match press conference about whether Willian is “happy” with his playing time this season, Antonio Conte has already spread the minutes around more equitably than last season.
Last season, 18 Chelsea players played more than 200 Premier League minutes. Already this season, after only 14 games, 16 players have reached the 200 minute mark. Michy Batshuayi is only 4 minutes shy, and would have crossed the threshold if not for his injury. Danny Drinkwater is also only one complete game away. This is a combination of injuries and the realities of competing in multiple competition.
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Antonio Conte does not have the depth he needs to rotate as much he may want to, let alone armor the team against injury. This upcoming run of games will help him make his case for the January transfer window. But Chelsea’s win against Swansea shows you do not always need your best XI to win. The minimum necessary XI can do the job and ensure the best XI are ready when needed.