The last time Chelsea followed up a Premier League championship season under a hard-edged manager, that man (Jose Mourinho) was fired and the Blues missed out on European play the next season.
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Don’t expect the same this time around, as most of those key and sated pieces are no longer at Stamford Bridge and now-manager Antonio Conte has bought the sort of stars who will demand hard work every day from nearly every competition on the pitch.
How will Chelsea fare this go ‘round? Read on...
Best, worst case scenarios - Well the best-case is quite literally a quadruple. Chelsea has the depth to contend in every possible competition from the League and FA Cups to the Premier League to the UEFA Champions League. The worst case sees the Blues hit hard by injuries en route to a 6th or 7th place finish and the Europa League, but even this would require an extended UCL run to test said depth.
Best possible XI is...
Courtois
Azpilicueta -- Luiz -- Rudiger
Moses -- Bakayoko -- Kante -- Alonso
Willian -- Morata -- Hazard
[ MORE: 2017-18 PL season preview hub ]
Transfers In: Wily Caballero (free, Man City), Antonio Rudiger (Roma, $38 million), Tiemoue Bakayoko (Monaco, $53 million), Alvaro Morata (Real Madrid, $76 million).
Transfers Out: Asmir Begovic (Bournemouth, $13 million), Nathan Ake (Bournemouth $26 million), John Terry (free, Aston Villa), Nemanja Matic (Manchester United, $46 million), Bertrand Traore (Lyon, $12 million), Christian Atsu (Newcastle United, $8 million), Juan Cuadrado (Juventus, $23 million), Dominic Solanke (Liverpool, tribunal), Nathaniel Chalobah (Watford, $7 million).
Last season:
-- Record-setting Premier League champions
-- League Cup fourth round
-- FA Cup runners-up
Star player: Eden Hazard -- Sure there’s a good chance that Alvaro Morata will supplant him, and N’Golo Kante is more important to the side, but there was no more electric attacker in the league than Hazard last season as he returned to form (and probably motivation). Antonio Conte deploys him in a way that encourages his participation at both ends of the pitch without burning his potential to simply destroy defenses via direct play or possession.
Coaches’ Corner: Antonio Conte -- The Italian has a new bumper deal to go with his PL title, and has certainly pushed some questionable buttons in casting Diego Costa to the curb and sanctioning the sales of some intriguing young prospects like Nathan Ake. That said, those dollars in have helped fund big buys of Bakayoko, Rudiger, and Morata, who could be at Stamford Bridge for close to a decade. If we have one thing to ask, though, it’s that he allow us more Willian time.
PST predicts: In the Top Four for both the Premier League and Champions League (meaning a semifinal or better). As wild as it is to speculate, we believe Chelsea may be better money to win the European crown than the Premier League honors.