No Chelsea fan, should you have prompted them at the start of the season, would have expected to see their side in the position they are with 13 games left to go in the Premier League season.
Whilst they would also not have expected to have a campaign as bad as last term’s, when, as champions, they finished tenth, not even the most optimistic fan would have honestly seen them eight points clear at the top in February, with fans and pundits alike carving their name onto the trophy already.
There were a lot of factors which contributed to the Blues’ woeful season last time out, with now Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho seemingly at the centre of all of them, having exploded at his physiotherapy team before losing the changing room.
However, as Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has eluded to, there has to have been more going on behind the scenes than just the manager losing his players. The former England and Manchester United man claimed that, as with Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester City side this time around, it was more down to the attitude of the players, attitude that has been realigned this season.
Therefore, it is imperative that those players who faltered and, ultimately, failed to defend their title so spectacularly last season, do not go through the same again and it is looking very unlikely to happen now that Antonio Conte is in charge with his impressive man management skills.
Whilst Neville claimed that it was more down to the attitude of the playing staff than the behaviour of their manager, the man in the hot seat is bound to have a handle on what is going on within his ranks and, thus can do something about it.
What is rather notable about Jose Mourinho’s career is the time he stays at clubs, never longer than three seasons in one spell. In doing so, the Portuguese creates a squad capable of going all the way in the early stages of his time with a club, before taking them as far as he can over the next few years and then, ultimately, leaving when it goes a bit wrong. That sounds incredibly harsh towards a manager who has won so much but, it is the truth and whilst he does call it a day at the low point, what he achieves with his settled side is remarkable.
That, perhaps, was one of the major flaws last season, the side and the management lost confidence in each other, as a collective they had peaked. Under Conte, however, the side are just beginning their journey and, should they reclaim their title as everyone expects this season term, the Italian will have no intentions of letting his players lose their focus next season, when European football is back on the table.