When Thibaut Courtois was joined on the sidelines by Marcos Alonso ahead of the weekend kick-off at Manchester United, Antonio Conte was surely nervous. To outside observers, Asmir Begovic is a sturdy back-up option to call upon and the Spanish wing-back is, albeit a good player, not the sort of star many would consider to be of integral quality to any league-chasing team, but it’s the effect of the caused disruption that would have increased the Italian’s heart-rate.
In itself, defeat at Man United’s Old Trafford home is by no means a catastrophe. Jose Mourinho’s squad is expensively assembled, filled with talented individuals and entered the match on the back of a 21-game unbeaten run in league action, but when coupled with the loss at the hands of Crystal Palace a few weeks ago it’s clear there are issues when the core nucleus of footballers Conte calls on is broken apart. Indeed, on that day at Stamford Bridge when the Eagles secured a shock 2-1 victory, Chelsea were without Victor Moses. As is the case with Alonso, the Nigerian, on paper, shouldn’t be a player that defines a team or a style of play, but with the Blues’ system so effective, it seems that the slightest adjustment causes havoc – and that certainly does not bode well for the return of European football in 2017/18.
Leicester found out the hard way that relying on a core of players is not always sustainable. While there are obvious differences between Chelsea and the Foxes both in terms of size and achievement, Claudio Ranieri utilised 23 first-team footballers in total across the 2015/16 league season as his side secured a historic title, while Conte’s Blues are on course to field just 22. And when the minutes played numbers are examined in this Chelsea squad it’s amazing to see that the 14th most regular appearance-maker is Branislav Ivanovic, who actually left the club to join Zenit Saint Petersburg over the winter, while Ola Aina, Nathaniel Chalobah and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have clocked a combined total of under two hours of game time. In fact, Begovic’s outing at Man United – his first of the league season – further dilutes the overall numbers used by Conte.
Circumstances have allowed the Londoners’ boss to do this and no one can argue with the results if they, as expected, get over the line to re-claim the title they so limply ‘defended’ last season. The amazing 13-game winning sequence between October and January was built on the solidity afforded by being able to field a regular XI and that will, in all likelihood, be looked back on as the defining spell of the campaign, but it’s worth remembering that a lack of European football and an early EFL Cup exit allowed for this, as well as a slice of luck on the injury front. It would be naive to put it down to good fortune and the hardiness of the Chelsea squad and the good work of their medical department must be praised, but would the absence of a key player or two during that period have altered the tide of the season? On recent evidence, it appears that may have been the case.
Champions League football is not mathematically guaranteed at Chelsea for 2017/18 just yet, but it’s effectively a certainty that Conte’s men will be balancing top-level continental football with the travails of continental action. Leicester’s domestic demise has been, in part, down to this, with Ranieri (and recently Craig Shakespeare) unable to field the same XI week in, week out, which has disrupted their rhythm. Chelsea will be in a far better position to keep their squad together – Leicester lost N’Golo Kante to the capital club, after all – and will be better placed than the King Power Stadium outfit to attract the sort of talent to further improve their squad, but the parallels are there.
Conte will need to find a way to cope. Whether that be buying players to suit the 3-4-3 set-up he turned to after that defeat to Arsenal in September or adding players he has a greater degree of trust in – Michy Batshuayi’s lack of game time despite his £30m+ price tag is a narrative that would have been discussed further if not for the good results – something needs to be done. It appears that the hard yards have been travelled and the buffer between themselves and Spurs should be too great to be knocked down, but Chelsea must ensure that Sunday’s Manchester United episode isn’t a vision of the future.
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