Team chemistry was the number one issue heading into the season for Chelsea. It came up during a post game press conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan after the Blues had just lost a preseason friendly to Real Madrid. An astute reporter asked new Chelsea manager Antonio Conte a very poignant, big picture question about what his priorities needed to be heading into this season.
What does Conte need to focus on? Why did the team fall from runaway Premier League champs (by a very wide margin) to mid table mediocrity in just one season? What would it take to the Blues back to title contention?
The answer is simple- Conte must unify a broken team. The talent was there last season, and it’s obviously still all there right now. Antonio Conte just needed to heal the wounds of last season. The Italian leader seems to be doing just that, according to Oscar.
“The coach has changed the formation, we are playing a different system to last season,” Oscar told the Evening Standard. “His training method is different to what we had last season and he’s changed both the players’ mentality and the team’s mentality. I think we have improved since he’s come here.
“I think you can see that last season we were lacking a bit of resilience. We had that spirit in some games, but we weren’t consistent. It’s good to have that spirit back and we are looking to improve on that front. If we keep up this team spirit, we will be a threat in the Premier League.”
You can’t argue with the results thus far. Chelsea have taken all three points from all three of their first three matches. They do look like bonafide title contenders thus far. Here’s a link to more on that, with three major reasons why the Blues could win it all.
The opportunity is there for Chelsea. The league title race is wide open enough. They have the talent. They just need Eden Hazard to be the Eden Hazard of two years ago and they need Conte to keep implementing his methods and systems, and continue making sure that the players buy in.
Early on, they’re off to a great start.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.