Antonio Conte led Chelsea to another Premier League title in his first season in England, but it will be harder than ever for the Blues to retain their crown. They proved in the first game of the title defence that it won’t be plain sailing as they slipped to a 3-2 defeat against Burnley, and finished the game with nine men. Conte’s men were three goals behind at half-time, and despite a late rally, they couldn’t fully reduce the deficit.
Even though it’s only one game into the new campaign, the warning signs could not be clearer for the Chelsea fans, and they could quite easily run into much bigger issues this season especially against the fellow big boys. Here are three of the main problems they are facing at this early stage.
2Captain, Leader, Legend
While John Terry didn’t contribute much on the pitch last term, his impact on the squad as a whole is extremely hard to find across the football world. He was recognised as Mr Chelsea and knew the club like the back of his hand. A Chelsea side without Terry is a rare sight, and the Blues might find it very tough to find a dressing room character quite like their ex-skipper.
Gary Cahill has been chosen as the captain, but he won’t bring to the squad what John Terry provided. Similar to the situation with Diego Costa, there isn’t a single player in the world that could replace John Terry and replicate what he brought to the table at Chelsea. As Cahill showed against Burnley, with his ludicrous first half red card, he has a lot of maturing to do before he can even come close to replacing John Terry.
