By Dylan Legrand
CHELSEA’s dramatic 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge against a stunning Liverpool team quite raised question marks on Antonio Conte and his tactics – one that cannot match with the words ‘Premier League champions’.
Jurgen Klopp overcame Conte on all levels at Stamford Bridge after a comfortable win, although the scoreline does not suggest the ease they had.
Conte had no complaint to make and Chelsea were quite lucky Diego Costa pulled one back.
Have the Blues got the team to win the Premier League trophy? Here are seven reasons why they will not be champions this season.
1. Conte’s defensive coach reputation
THE Italian likes a good defence, but have Chelsea displayed terrific defensive skills so far this season?
No, and it’s quite simple to understand. Conceding eight goals in six games in all competitions is far too many.
Then you need power and strength in the attack, which Chelsea have, but Conte’s tactics does not involve straight attacking style of play.
And it is that balance which lacks. There is a dilemma in the backroom.
2. David Luiz…
THE signing of David Luiz was clearly a panic buy and not to say he was one of Paris Saint-Germain’s biggest flop.
The Brazilian defender rushed to London on transfer deadline day to complete a £32million deal to rejoin the Blues’ dressing room. Is he the perfect addition for Conte? No.
And more effectively after it was revealed the Italian coach first aimed for Paris SG’s young star defender Presnel Kimpembe.
The 18-year-old rising star, who has started every Ligue 1 games this season, would have been a perfect recruit to fit Conte’s philosophy.
Instead, Luiz is a stubborn player who should not play as a centre back – yes, he showed better qualities further up in the park.
3. Costa reliable?
COSTA has scored five goals in five games but that does not mean he will produce an avalanche of goals during the entire season.
The striker’s misconduct continues as he has already picked up three yellow cards, and this will cost Chelsea sometime again this season.
It only takes five yellows to be suspended and what Conte does not want is to miss his main source of goals for any games.
Costa may have scored in the second half against Liverpool but seeing him fail earlier against Burnley leaves a slight bitter taste.
4. John Terry’s injuries
IF Conte wanted to name one player to assure discipline defensively, then it would be John Terry. But that cannot be done.
Chelsea feel Terry’s absence more than ever before and Conte was not prepared for this situation to show up.
Indeed, the experienced defender was confirmed before the Liverpool game that he would miss 10 days of work with a foot injury.
This is an immediate issue that was heavily felt against Klopp’s men and unless Luiz step up his game for the next few fixtures, it leaves Chelsea’s confidence of taking points in doubts.
5. Far from Manchester’s standards
PEP Guardiola is yet to loose a game as Manchester City manager, and even when Sergio Aguero is suspended, they are still awesome.
Aguero is serving a three-match ban but City still score and win comfortably, and how they outplayed Jose Mourinho’s United in the first-half of the Manchester derby is just a confirmation.
And in the case of the Red Devils, Mourinho has brought in quality amongst anything else with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba – there is no doubt they will take many points for the rest of the season.
This is exactly what Chelsea lack because the Premier League has reached another level this season.
Big guns of Manchester are ever so big, imposing insane standards in this modern era.
6. No hungry young players
STANFORD BRIDGE has not got a single young star who is hungry to play and score goals – another thumb down.
Whether clubs have huge money to spend or less, there should be players breaking through the first team from the academy and Chelsea have not got such a system.
United have spent this summer but they have the likes of Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard who are ready to play and prove they are capable to make a difference.
Even so, they just want to show role models Zlatan and Pogba that they watch and learn from them when one gets a private lesson, such as Rashford.
Tottenham is another good example with Dele Alli, who scored 11 goals in all competitions last season.
Conte has Eden Hazard back in form after a dramatic year last term, but the Italian should have played new recruit Michy Batshuayi against Liverpool.
7. Conte can’t rely too much on Oscar
ONE of Conte’s problem is that he wants to rely on Oscar to balance out his tactics between attack and defence.
The Italian coach said Oscar is the perfect man in his plan to make sure his team score goals and find defensive security at the same time, but the Brazilian is failing so far.
Of course Oscar can score goals, but having in mind to watch his back to reassure the defence is a tad too much for him right now.
The 25-year-old midfielder is yet to score and has only assisted once in five appearances, and his shooting accuracy is as low as 20 per cent.
His passing accuracy, though, reaches 84 per cent but he needs to concentrate on supporting the attack more than anything else.
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