Chelsea's Premier League title from last season was a result of a long stream of wins, great dedication and stable form throughout the year. With 30 wins in 38 matches, Chelsea was by far the most dominant team in the league. Logic implied that the Blues would only continue with their great games next season on the domestic scene and in the Champions League.
Other than Morata's big signing and the departure of Diego Costa, it looked like Antonio Conte's squad stayed the same over the summer. Fast forward the transfer period, the opening matchday was a really bad start for the West Londoners. So, what went wrong?
What happened to Chelsea's form?
How come the active PL champions got off on the wrong foot? A few things come to mind. Things like luck, coincidence and decisions can take you down swinging. And sometimes, football can be all about luck and chance, much like betting on black or red on the roulette table. Play a few bad or good hands, sell the wrong or right players, and there you have it, a pattern of decisions that affects your form and performance in the long run.
Conte's squad had its moments of poor judgement on more than a few occasions this season, and that's what will probably cost them a spot in the CL next year. But when everything is said and done, they will have to work hard over the summer and make amends for this season's performances.
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This year's Premier League run
To everyone's surprise, three first-half goals conceded to Burnley quickly set the team off their game and looking back now at the end of the season, the Blues never really fully recovered.
Even though they had a decent mid-season run by grabbing 37 points from 16 matches and fans started getting their hopes up, something went very wrong – very fast. The start of 2018 was a complete disaster for the Blues, as they won 12 points in 11 matches. Now, they are only hoping to get to the top four in the standings, but that's a long shot, and they will most likely end up playing qualifiers for Europa League next season.
Young prospects
Chelsea has some of the best young players in the country. It's really unfortunate that given the competitiveness of the Premier League, most of these youngsters are not getting enough play time on the PL matchdays.
Seventeen-year-old Ethan Ampadu has made seven outings for Conte's side and Callum Hudson-Odoi has come off the bench on four occasions. But for whatever reason, the majority of Chelsea's youngsters spend more time out on loan rather than being promoted into the first team. Chelsea's young team have just reached their seventh successive FA Youth Cup final, and yet there's still a degree of uncertainty as to whether many players from the squad will get the chance that they have been working for.
This is the one scenario where Conte can actually benefit from playing in the Europa League next season and play these youngsters on a continental level. Arsene Wenger did something similar with Arsenal this year, by giving Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Joe Willock and Reiss Nelson a chance as first-team starters on a number of occasions. The Europa League can be good that way for teams like Chelsea and Arsenal, as it can pave the way for the up-and-comers in the first team.
Players on loan
The Blues can also potentially integrate some of the players that are currently on loan. For instance, Tammy Abraham - currently at Swansea City, will definitely be involved in the squad next season. Ruben Loftus-Cheek had injury issues at Crystal Palace but he, too, wants to impress at his parent club.
Even players like Lewis Baker and Kasey Palmer - at Middlesbrough and Derby County respectively - deserve a chance. And this is likely to happen, as Chelsea need to fulfil the home-grown criteria in the player registration window.
Potential signings for next season
Conte's side is usually looking to make the most of what is available to them, as they are not known to make big team changes. But that might change over the course of this summer, as some really big names are being linked to Chelsea. Supposedly, Real Madrid's wonderkid Marco Asensio could make a move to Stamford Bridge for a mammoth £131m. This would be a huge signing, as Asensio is one of the most talented young attacking midfielders in the world right now. What makes this potential record-breaking transfer more than just a rumor, is that Real are open to receiving offers and selling the 22-year-old for the right price. We'll see what happens!
