Chelsea have enjoyed a storming campaign under the guidance of Antonio Conte, with the Premier League title in the bag and the chance of securing a double later this month when they clash with Arsenal in the FA Cup final at Wembley.

The Blues have certainly responded valiantly following a disappointing season last term, when the West London outfit remarkably finished tenth after winning the league the season prior, and Conte must respond next season to improve on Chelsea’s previous issues.

Chelsea’s five Premier League title successes have been spread out across the years, with the Blues failing to defend their crown in every season bar their first title success in 2005- where Jose Mourinho’s side secured the title in the following campaign.

Mourinho’s third season at Stamford Bridge saw the Blues miss out on the opportunity to secure three consecutive Premier League titles though and the West London giants have failed to secure back-to-back titles ever since.

After winning the title in the 2009/10 season, Chelsea finished second to Manchester United the following campaign and after winning the title under Mourinho two-years ago, Chelsea remarkably finished in mid-table last season.

Defending the Premier League title is a much more difficult task to winning it for the first time, as shown by the fact that the last side to successfully defend their Premier League crown was Manchester United’s side in 2009.

In fact, Chelsea are just one of two Premier League sides to secure the Premier League title in back-to-back seasons with the only other outfit being Manchester United, who dominated under Sir Alex Ferguson’s tenure and successfully defended their title on no fewer than six occasions.

That means the likes of Blackburn Rovers, Arsenal, Manchester City and Leicester City have all failed to defend their crown and Chelsea will be battling against the odds next season to avoid similar fate- which gives Conte a massive task.

A return to Champions League football is likely to be crucial to Chelsea’s defence, as the squad’s depth will be tested significantly and the Blues certainly benefitted from an absence of European distractions during this season.

On top of that, every side tackling Chelsea next year will want to secure victory against the Premier League champions and Conte will be battling off second-season syndrome in English football, which has affected a lot of managers in the past.

Chelsea’s depth this season hasn’t really been tested by their ranks need to be strengthened significantly over the course of the summer to assemble a squad capable of fighting across all fronts and the possible departures of the likes of Diego Costa, Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois could send shockwaves throughout the squad.

Conte’s work is certainly not done and his biggest challenge is right around the corner.