Chelsea’s season became unfortunately simpler without the Champions League. Top four is goal number one, but the club cannot turn away from the FA Cup.
There is a mentality at certain clubs to disregard certain trophies. Laughably, some clubs are praised for this. But that is the wrong mentality to have in the sport. Football is first and foremost a results based business. And no one remembers the team with the moral victory. They remember the victor.
In regards to Chelsea, that topic of discussion comes up in regards to the FA Cup. Once extremely prestigious, the cup has grown increasingly marginalized in the world of mega millions and managerial moves. It is becoming viewed as a late season distraction rather than a desirable prize.
That mentality cannot be allowed to slip its way into Chelsea. Once it does, it becomes nearly impossible to break away from. It is a mentality that has kept Spurs, Arsenal and Liverpool down for years upon years.
Yes, top four is the priority. And yes, going for the FA Cup will add further strain upon an already strained side. But in a season with only one more trophy on the line and only three more matches needed to win it, Chelsea must go for it.
This is a mentality that Antonio Conte already has. To the manager, every match is important. He will realize that the only chance he has of keeping his Chelsea job (if he wants to keep it next season) is making top four. FA Cup is secondary. But that does not mean rotate heavily to remove it from the schedule.
The quarter final away to Leicester comes right before an international break. Leicester are in form and love a home game but they are beatable. Conte will want to be careful not to rotate too heavily but a little could see Chelsea through.
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It would be unlikely to draw an easy opponent for the semi final. But even if Chelsea were to get lucky, no club of lesser quality will rotate for the FA Cup. They will go all out. The semi final would be on the weekend of April 21. That would move the scheduled match against Huddersfield and would fall between a trip to Southampton and Swansea. Chelsea would likely have a full week before and after to prepare (assuming they have no matches rescheduled in between).
And then the final is the final. It comes after the season end and there are no excuses. Chelsea slipped during it last year and will be eager to make up for that mistake.
But most of all, winning in an FA Cup match builds momentum. And Chelsea need all the momentum they can get to see out the season. The Blues need to outpace Spurs and Liverpool and any amount of momentum will help with that.
That would be the big short term effect. The long term effect of winning the FA Cup would be having players hungry for silverware. Silverware leads to more silverware and Chelsea must always look for more.
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The alternative is unacceptable. Turning a nose up at one cup leads to turning it up at another. And then suddenly the club is happy to win the “fourth place trophy” and “put on the pressure”. That would be completely unacceptable.