da stake casino： Chelsea’s victory over Everton on Sunday wasn’t just significant for taking Antonio Conte’s side three points closer to the Premier League title this season – it was also the Blues’ first clean sheet since January 22nd.
da 888casino： Perhaps that’s why this is seen as such a big step towards a second league title in three years: it wasn’t just that Chelsea had successfully negotiated their toughest away test left on the fixture list, but they’d arguably turned in their most solid performance of the last three months.
Back in January, it was almost inconceivable that there’d be a title race at all. Now there is only four points separating the top two, and Tottenham are currently in the middle of a highly impressive nine-match winning run in the Premier League. Things have shifted. After the first game of that Spurs run – a 4-0 victory over Stoke in February – the gap was 10 points. That narrowing of the lead might be down to Tottenham’s brilliance as much as anything else, but Chelsea still needed to give up points along the way. They haven’t been as good in the second half of the season as the first.
Victory at the weekend may have extinguished much of the hope of an even closer race going into the final weeks of the season, but the reality is if there’s been a title race at all this season, it’s been down to Chelsea’s stuttering defence over the last few weeks.
The question is whether or not this is about form (Chelsea went on a run of 13 victories in a row earlier this season, and no one could expect them to keep that up for a whole season) or whether it is about something much more dangerous than that. Something that will worry Conte ahead of next season.
Given Chelsea’s abject defence of their crown last year, it wouldn’t be surprising if those around the club remembered the similarities between the second half of this season and the second half of the 2014/15 campaign when the Blues began to look a little rocky under Jose Mourinho, but used their experience and nous to get over the line quite comfortably in the end.
There are undoubted parallels: a good first half of the season was mirrored by a less impressive second half, and the problems spilled over into the next season, culminating in Mourinho’s dismissal as manager.
Ironically, the problems of last season have actually had a positive effect this time around: not only are the players seemingly galvanised by the experience, but the fact that European qualification wasn’t achieved has undoubtedly made this season just that little bit easier.
They may make next season easier, too.
That’s because Chelsea should be worried about the parallels. Whilst it’s true that Conte and Mourinho aren’t the same characters, and there were some very specific failings and fights nearly two years ago which led to the club’s temporary demise, the club will surely have learned not to rest on its laurels and not repeat the same mistakes.
One decision to make this summer is how best to replace John Terry.
That might seem like an odd suggestion given that the former England captain hasn’t featured regularly for Chelsea this season at all, left out of the side for most of the campaign as the back three of David Luiz, Cesar Azpilicueta and the on-pitch captain Gary Cahill have proved a consistent and solid block this season – or at least until January before the clean sheets became sparse. But his absence from the club next season could have a bigger impact than it might seem right now.
For one thing, we don’t know what sort of importance John Terry has in the dressing room. For each of Chelsea’s Premier League title victories, the club captain has been present. It has been widely noted that Chelsea’s ability to stay ahead of the competition so far this season has been partly down to their know-how and winning mentality, but that usually means the players on the pitch. And yet, part of that surely comes from having a figure like Terry present at the club, too. If not for his on-pitch leadership, then his leadership in the dressing room. Or even just as a figure of victory within the team – a figure the other players see every day and which reminds them of the club and its recent history. A figure who reminds them they are winners.
It isn’t uncommon, at times of triumph and celebration, to feel too positive. Chelsea could quite easily fall into that trap. Although they can very much enjoy winning the title – barring collapse – and possibly even a league and FA Cup double, losing Terry might not seem like a big blow to them. After all, they’ve done it pretty much without him.
They’d be foolish not to plan for his departure, but perhaps two trophies and a few more clean sheets between now and the end of the season will convince Chelsea that everything is perfect as it is.
That could be a terrible mistake.