By Ian Preston
Chelsea FC need just one more win in order to bring the Premier League title trophy back to Stamford Bridge this season. With glorious victory comes the spoils, as the old saying goes, and part of those spoils for Chelsea will be a place back at European footballโs top table, the UEFA Champions League, next season.
Having gone a whole campaign without European football, however, it does beg the question of whether or not Antonio Conteโs squad will be strong enough to stand up to the added demands of Champions League football.
How Much Difference Can Champions League Football Make?
Itโs very easy to dismiss the idea of fatigue or fixture congestion as making a real difference for Premier League clubs, given the vast amounts of money involved in building the depth of their squads. What that opinion fails to recognise, however, is just how much extra football additional European commitments can add to a teamโs season.
Chelsea FC were without European football this campaign and, as such, will have played a total of 45 games in all competitions by the time their season draws to a close.
Spurs meanwhile, did have commitments on the continent and whilst they exited the European scene comparatively early, their participation will still mean that their total tally of games is going to reach 53.
Manchester United, whatโs more, will have played a gargantuan 62 or 63 (dependent on if they reach the Europa League final) games in total.
Therefore, squads need to be more robust in order to cope with such a hike in playing time during a season.
Thereโs little doubt that European participation can impact domestic results. For example, in a season of only four league losses, Tottenham suffered two of those defeats immediately on the heels of a European fixture.
Can Chelsea Cope?
Having Champions League football next season, therefore, will undoubtedly present a different challenge for Chelsea and Antonio Conte. As to whether their squad will cope, there are reasons for both optimism and pessimism.
To deal with the negative side first, it may prove damaging for Chelsea next season that the hectic schedule allows less time for training ground improvements. Arguably the key point of the clubโs season this time around, after all, was Conteโs switch from a 4-4-3 to a 3-4-3 formation. Occurring early in the campaign, the switch dramatically turned around Chelseaโs fortunes, but is the kind of change that wouldnโt have been possible without extensive preseason training.
On the other hand, when you look at the makeup of the Chelsea squad and how playing time has been doled out this season, things look a lot more positive for Conteโs men.
The club have only used 23 of a possible 25 players in the Premier League this season โ at time of writing โ and fully ten of those have still played less than 1000 minutes in total.
It suggests that the Blues have plenty of room for greater squad rotation to cope with the heavier demands of next season.
Consider that promising and exciting players such as Michy Batshuayi, Kurt Zouma and Nathan Ake are amongst those to have played less than 1000 minutes, things appear to be even rosier.
Add the fact that Chelsea have also had the luxury of being able to loan out players of the calibre of Loic Remy and Bertrand Traore this season, and it seems likely that their squad will indeed be able to cope with an added Champions League campaign next year.
We will only know for sure, however, once the 2017/18 season really gets rolling.ย ย ย
