Chelsea’s shambolic deadline day shouldn’t fool anybody – Antonio Conte’s side are stronger than last season’s title-winning squad
The Blues had a torrid transfer window, with Ross Barkley, Fernando Llorente and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all snubbing moves to the Premier League champions
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The last few days have been a bit of a shambles for Chelsea. Antonio Conte missed out on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Fernando Llorente and Ross Barkley all in the space of 48 hours.
Losing out on three targets so late is clearly a blow for the champions – but don’t be fooled into thinking this is anything more than just a glitch in our title defence.
What about all the business that did go through at Stamford Bridge? Willy Caballero, Davide Zappacosta, Antonio Rudiger, Danny Drinkwater, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Alvaro Morata have all been added to the Blues’ squad this summer.
The new boys have the task of filling the huge void left by the likes of Nemanja Matic, Diego Costa and John Terry, but I’m more than confident our arrivals are capable of stepping up to the monumental task.
The champions have strengthened this season – and I’m going to prove it to you.
Bakayoko for Matic.
Chelsea won’t miss Nemanja Matic. There, I said it.
Man Utd fans are seemingly lauding the Serbian as the new Zinedine Zidane after assured performances against West Ham and Swansea. Let’s set something straight - Matic is a limited footballer.
The 29-year-old is very good at what he does. Breaking up play, protecting the back four, and generally being a nuisance.
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But don’t forget, the majority of Chelsea fans were calling for him to be replaced by Cesc Fabregas in Chelsea’s starting XI last season.
More and more mistakes were slipping into his game and a lack of creativity often left supporters wondering if he’d be better placed on the bench.
In Tiemoue Bakayoko, Chelsea have got a player who can do everything Matic can, and he proved that impeccably last season.
The 23-year-old was a monster in Ligue 1 – spearheading Monaco to their first league title in 17 years.
Certainly no mean feat considering PSG were looking to retain the title for a fifth consecutive year and have money falling out their ears.
Undoubtedly the Premier League will be a step up for him, but there’s more than enough evidence to suggest he can hack it.
Just look at Monaco’s route to the Champions League semi-final last year.
The French champions were grouped alongside Tottenham – who they would beat both home and away with Bakayoko playing 90 minutes in both fixtures.
The Round of 16 then saw them come up against Pep’s Man City. Tiemoue Bakayoko scored the decisive goal to end any hopes of a Premier League side winning the Champions League.
In the process, Bakayoko came up against some of the most powerful and tricky midfielders our league has to offer. Wanyama, Dembele, Yaya Toure, David Silva – who will all now have a respect for Bakayoko’s abilities.
Don’t get me wrong Matic has been a great servant for our club and can wear his two Premier League medals as proudly as any other Chelsea player. It may well be the case he’s more suited to Man Utd – but his loss, alongside gaining Bakayoko, doesn’t weaken Chelsea.
Morata for Costa
Diego Costa has been included in our Premier League squad. It’s evident though that Antonio Conte wants the Spaniard out and he’ll more likely be starting for the U23’s as opposed to the first team this campaign.
We all know at his best Diego Costa in nigh on impossible to replace. Ferocious, relentless, and most of all clinical.
The striker has all the potential in the world to be a 30 goal a year man in the Premier League.
But do you know what his Premier League scoring record in a season is? 20.
Sometimes talent isn’t enough. It’s the very reason Diego Costa is in the situation he’s in now. In limbo and without a club in the peak years of his career.
Quite frankly his attitude stinks.
His falling out with Antonio Conte over a failed move to China in January turned out to be the straw that broke the camel’s back and now instead we have a humble, young, motivated striker pouncing at his chance to be the main man for one of Europe’s biggest clubs.
Alvaro Morata. Already nominated for the Premier League Player of the Month after becoming the first player in history to both score and assist in his opening two Premier League home games.
At 24-years-old, the Spaniard has the world at his feet and he won’t be overwhelmed.
The ex-Real Madrid and Juventus forward clearly has experience of playing for big clubs. He’s played and scored in Champions League finals – and having spent last season learning from the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, I truly believe he’s ready to take his game to the next level.
From just 14 starts in La Liga last season, Alvaro Morata managed to bag 15 goals – and he’s carried on that form for Chelsea with two goals in two starts in the league so far.
You’ll be hard-pressed to find many people who believe Alvaro Morata won’t surpass Diego Costa’s Premier League record of 20 goals.
He’s a hard-worker, will keep his head down and relish being the main striker for the first time in his career.
Rudiger for JT
JT is gone. It still feels strange seeing him in a football shirt that isn’t Chelsea’s. But all good things come to an end and it’s time for new leaders to step into his place.
John Terry’s absence will undoubtedly be felt most in the dressing room. He was (and still is) Mr. Chelsea and his winning mentality is something that reverberated around the club.
It’s fair to say however, that his playing days at Chelsea came to an end at the right time. The Blues legend made only six starts in the Premier League last campaign.
It was crucial for us to find a strong replacement who could genuinely challenge for a starting place - and we did exactly that in the form of Germany international Antonio Rudiger.
A 6ft 3’ powerhouse – Rudiger has taken to the Premier League like a duck to water.
Solid and assured performances against Tottenham and Everton have definitely given Antonio Conte something to think about when Gary Cahill returns from suspension.
At 24-years-old Rudiger already has 18 caps for Germany and was ever-present in their Confederations Cup triumph.
He looks ready-made for English football and makes an already dependable defence that little bit stronger.
And the rest…
A lot is being made of Chelsea’s depleted numbers.
We’ve let Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Kurt Zouma and Ola Aina leave on loan – whilst Nathaniel Chalobah, Asmir Begovic and Nathan Ake were sold.
Antonio Conte hasn’t allowed our departures to leave without answer though.
Willy Caballero, Davide Zappacosta and Danny Drinkwater were all signed – whilst we’ve opted to keep Kenedy, Charly Musonda and Andreas Christensen around the first team as opposed to sending them back on loan.
In terms of personnel, our squad players haven’t weakened.
Zappacosta, Drinkwater and Christensen are all serious contenders to push for a place in Conte’s starting XI.
It’s a squad that can certainly challenge for the league again and competition for places is higher than last season.
The real testing times will come on Champions League weeks, where fixtures become more and more congested.
Having said that, we should have the squad to see us through the group stage and re-strengthen in January.
Most importantly, the players are still fighting as hard as ever for Antonio Conte. When the chips were down against Spurs, every single player stepped up and showed the boss they’re behind him.
The mood around Stamford Bridge changed instantaneously after that game, and Antonio Conte is more than ready to mount another serious title challenge – with an even stronger squad!