Exactly a month ago, Chelsea won 3-0 against Burnley and made it three wins out of three games in the new league season.
The fans were happy and everything was looking smooth. Three Premier League games later things seem to be moving in a completely different direction.
A draw at Swansea, a home defeat to Liverpool and a London derby defeat at Arsenal has damaged good start of the Chelsea season. But who is to blame for the poor performances and results in these games? New manager Antonio Conte, or a few under performing players?
I am a fan of Antonio Conte. His Juventus team was extremely solid and dominated domestic competitions in Italy every year. But there were always doubts whether he can achieve similar success in tougher competitions or tournaments in a different country.
His stint with Italy national team erased all doubts. A strong showing in the Euro 2016 held in France is a proof of that.
Italy were not the favourites but nearly eliminated Germany from the tournament. Chelsea fans were optimistic during and after the Euros.
As it always happens, few bad results and some of the fans are turning against Antonio Conte. But are they correct in rejecting him so early in his Chelsea career? The Italian inherited a team that finished 10th in the Premier League last season.
To be completely honest Chelsea never looked good enough last season and as a result couldn’t even qualify for any European competition. In the transfer market this summer, Chelsea failed to sign their top defensive targets and top striker targets.
Chelsea under Roman Abramovich are known to ‘splash the cash’ in the transfer window but this season things were a bit different.
Chelsea refused to pay asking price for their targets such as Kalidou Koulibaly and Romelu Lukaku. Poor performances last season and not a perfect transfer window, so why a lot is expected this season which is the first one in a new country for Antonio Conte?
Antonio Conte is known for producing tactically strong defensive displays. Apart from John Terry the other defenders in the Chelsea side have not performed as per their capabilities. Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic have been poor in the games against Swansea, Liverpool and Arsenal.
Transition of Conte from Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini to Cahill, David Luiz and Ivanovic hasn’t been smooth and it shouldn’t be expected so soon either.
The most important question is that whether the unhappy fans will affect owner Abramovich? Will he be looking to give Antonio Conte the time he needs?
The Italian has been handed a ‘project’ at Chelsea. By project what I mean to say is that the manager has been given the authority to re-build the squad.
The process can be slow. It takes time for a new manager in a foreign country to analyse the new squad, get non performers off the books and build a new team.
Chelsea fans should be patient for now and should judge the current season’s progress on the basis of what happened last season. Realistic expectations, instead of dreams of a magical season, are needed.
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Frankly, it was a bad look for Hayes. She appears like a grumpy and frustrated manager as her tenure at Chelsea is coming to an end.
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