One of the most damning part about Premier League 2015/16 season was to witness Chelsea’s terrible title defense. After clinching the league title 12 months ago, The Blues were expected to go on a consistent run of success, however, a controversy laden season saw them finish as low as 10th this time around.
Jose Mourinho’s time at Stamford Bridge led to a mutiny within the squad which was obvious even when Guus Hiddink was put in charge. Poor performances from Eden Hazard, Diego Costa and Nemanja Matic were the biggest reasons for Chelsea’s disastrous 2015/16 season.
Following a less than satisfactory campaign for the Blues, let us take a look at five things we learned from Chelsea’s Premier League 2015/16 season.
Antonio Conte has a tough job in his hands
The Italian is set to take over at Stamford Bridge next season but he must realize the size of task awaiting him. We are yet to know the future of Diego Costa, Eden Hazard, Thibaut Courtois and John Terry and if all of them decide to leave at once, Conte’s job would become even more difficult.
Chelsea approaching a crucial summer transfer window
Roman Abramovich would be mindful of his team not having the Champions League football next season but it cannot be the reason for failure in signing their top targets. Chelsea may have to spend an extra £5-10million to get their desired players but that is the risk they will have to take or else, Conte would stand no chance of having a successful 2016/17 season.
Chelsea’s squad strength an at all-time low
John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, Nemanja Matic, Pedro, Oscar and Eden Hazard were as good as anonymous throughout this season. While Hazard showed signs of regaining his form late on, others looked a pale shadow of their title-winning performance back in 2014/15 season.
Speaking of the bench strength, like of Falcao, Pato and Remy were never good enough to make any impact on the side. Conte needs to be very decisive about what kind of players he needs in his squad next season to make sure Chelsea are once again back among the Premier League’s elites.
Mourinho’s fiasco could have been handled efficiently
Yes Jose Mourinho let himself down by attacking Eva Carneiro’s position at the club, but Chelsea’s hierarchy could have handled everything in an efficient manner.
They allowed media to have a huge say in to the matter and virtually waited till the situation got out of hands which eventually led to Jose Mourinho getting the sack.
Chelsea could never recover from that fiasco and ended up suffering the worst ever title defense from a Premier League Champion after finishing 10th this season.
Its now or never for Chelsea’s youngsters
At present, Chelsea have one of the best bunch of youngsters in Premier League. The Blues won both FA Youth Cup and the UEFA Youth League this season to stake their claim for a regular game time next season.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek has already made the transition from youth squad to the senior team and it is time for the likes of Jeremie Boga and Andreas Christensen to take the next step as well.