Chelsea’s second quarter: Grading Antonio Conte through the holidays

Chelsea survived the festive period with no major injuries and without losing ground on their realistic rival, Manchester United. What credit does Antonio Conte deserve for the second quarter of the season?

Tony Pulis was hanging by a thread when Antonio Conte’s Chelsea stomped his West Brom side 4-0. The 3-5-2 led to a first half blitz of three goals and a quiet second half of just one saw Chelsea as the comfortable victors. Eden Hazard’s brace and Cesc Fabregas’ two assists were the highlights.

The next match required a long trip to face Qarabag who went a man down early on. Using Hazard as a false nine in a 3-4-3, Chelsea turned the opponent inside out. Qarabag will have felt hard done by because of the red card and two later penalties, but there was only ever going to be one winner.

The next match did not go as well as the previous two. Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool is always tricky but they were absolutely dominant in the match. Chelsea’s 3-5-2 failed to deal with the pressure and it took the man of the hour Willian from the bench to save Chelsea a point and blushes.

If Conte was hoping for a rebound against Swansea he would have left disappointed. Chelsea struggled to break through in the match and it took Antonio Rudiger to make a breakthrough. Chelsea did dominate, but found finishing the many chances they created to be difficult.

Grade for this period: A-

These four matches could have been tricky but three wins and a draw is a solid enough return. The first two were obviously the highlights as the last two were slogs, but Conte got his men on the right side of things going into December.

Newcastle to Southampton

It was Rafa Benitez’s long awaited return to Chelsea as his Newcastle side scored an early goal. But like their match against Manchester United the week before, they could not hold on after taking the lead. Chelsea pulled no punches against the former manager as they left 3-1 victors.

Must Read: Chelsea's slow starts costing them early leads and counter-attacking finishes

Win at Atletico and win the group. But that would have been too easy in the next round, so Chelsea made sure to throw the Spanish side a lifeline for advancing. It was as entertaining as the reverse fixture, but the 1-1 result was fair, all things considered.

And then it all went wrong against West Ham as well. An early goal by David Moyes’ side was well-defended throughout as Chelsea showed heavy legs from their travel in recent weeks. It was a bad day against a rival, but West Ham played excellent defense and earned their three points.

Rotation was in full swing as December pressed on with matches almost every three days. Huddersfield came up next to a Hazard false nine system and Willian once more ran the show. They fought the entire time but they could not overcome Chelsea’s tricky front three.

Southampton could not handle Chelsea either, though they kept the deficit to one. Chelsea continued to create tons of chances whilst struggling to finish. A nervy Charlie Austin attempt almost ruined the day, but Conte’s Blues held on to take all three points.

Grade for this period: C+

Finishing second in a group that Chelsea controlled on matchday five hurt, and led to a draw against Barcelona in the next round. Following that with a loss to West Ham was crippling in regards to the title race. The trend of creating a ton and finishing little continued as the festive period began.

Are We There Yet?: Bournemouth to Stoke

The League Cup fixture against Bournemouth started well enough with an early Willian goal. Then it looked bound for extra time in added time when the Cherries scored. Alvaro Morata saved Chelsea from that as they set up a semifinal date with rivals Arsenal.

And then Big Sam Allardyce’s Everton ended Antonio Conte’s title pursuit. They did little to stop Chelsea from attacking and did little to score themselves. But they defended well and caused Chelsea to slip 16 points behind Manchester City.

Must Read: Thibaut and Thorgan: Chelsea should build a future around Eden Hazard

Weird scheduling saw the Blues face Brighton for the first time on match day 20. A horrid, hangover-like first half gave way to the Spanish players taking the game under their command.
A goal and an assist from four different Spanish players saw Chelsea take three points.

The finishing was much improved as Chelsea ran the show and crushed Stoke 5-0. The first goal was a demoralizing blow to the sinking Potters side, and they put up little fight for the remainder. Chelsea finished the year as deserved winners as they prepared for a difficult 2018.

Grade for this period: B+

The near disaster of the League Cup and the dropped points to Everton did their damage, but the ease of the next two helped alleviate the pain. Rotation was heavy to keep injuries low and Chelsea got out of the festive period with minimal injuries.

Overall Grade for this Quarter: B

The first half of the season did not always go as plan, but it was far from a disaster. Had this season and last been swapped, no one would have had any issues with Chelsea’s current predicament.

Next: Chelsea's predicted XI vs Arsenal in Carabao Cup semi-finals

Chelsea is still in the hunt for trophies and a strong transfer window could set the Blues up for a rebound next season.