The following post was written on June 3rd, 2016.
Chelsea Football Club must learn from the mistakes of 2015/2016. It was an embarrassing season for the club. The club, then managed by club legend José Mourinho, was unable to put up a fight in the first half of the season, and Guus Hiddink steadied the ship in the latter half. Chelsea Football Club finished as the tenth best team in the Premier League just one year after they won the title. Absolutely awful.
Now, Chelsea won’t participate in any continental club competition, and their former manager, José Mourinho, has signed with rivals Manchester United. But there were some highlights at the end of the season. Talents like Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham got some playing time with the first team squad, Antonio Conte signed on to manage Chelsea, and club captain John Terry has extended his stay at Chelsea Football Club.
The 2016/2017 season will be very important for the future of the club. Antonio Conte, who I’ll get to in a moment, is bringing in another style of football, and a new era is about to begin at Chelsea Football Club. John Terry had to stay. The club had to keep him, and eventually they chose to offer him a deal. It may not have been the deal Terry wanted, but it gave him an opportunity to keep playing for the club he loves, and the fans that love him.
I was so relieved when John Terry got a new contract. I’ve previously stated how Chelsea were alienating club identity, as well as the fans, by forcing legends to finish out their careers elsewhere. But this time they got it right. John Terry stays, and he is a part of the new era at Chelsea Football Club.
Even though José Mourinho was one of the reasons why last season didn’t go as well as it should have for Chelsea, I still think he is the best manager in the world right now. So, when Chelsea had to find a new manager at the end of last season, there were pretty much only two men that I wanted: Diego Simeone or Antonio Conte. Conte was the man for Chelsea, and is definitely the most inspired choice of the two.
I’ve been a fan of Antonio Conte, as a manager, for a while now. I am a fan of Chelsea, but I do enjoy watching Juventus play football. His time as manager for La Vecchia Signora was very special, and he made that team into one of the best ever Juventus teams. He won the Serie A three years in a row, and since then his former team has continued their winning ways with Allegri.
Since taking over as manager of Italy, they’ve played 19 games so far. Of those 19 games they’ve only lost three times (Portugal, Belgium – 2015; Germany – 2016), and won ten games. In fact, the only games that he has lost as the manager of Gli Azzurri, so far, has been international friendlies. He expects focus, intelligence, and a high work rate from his players. And when the locker room gets what he is all about, then you get results. But you definitely don’t want to disappoint a guy like Conte.
Chelsea may need to buy a few new players, and adjust the expectations of some backups, if the team is to play like Conte-led teams usually play. I’ve heard rumors saying Chelsea want to sign players like Radja Nainggolan, Kwadwo Asamoah, Romelu Lukaku, and Paul Pogba. All of those players would be pretty perfect for Chelsea right about now.
– I’m Jeffrey Rex
I'm Jeffrey Rex 