Football Season Guide

After a disappointing defence of their title and unrest in the dressing room ever since the beginning of last season it was somewhat logical that coach Conte was released this summer. As his replacement was signed the highly-regarded Mauricio Sarri from Napoli, but despite all the praise for the way his teams play it’s important to stress that Sarri is yet to win any major trophies as a manager. Under Sarri Chelsea will certainly change their system and the new boss favours 4-3-3, or 4-3-1-2. In both cases the aggressive forward runs of the wing-backs Alonso and Moses should be over and both of them, regulars under Conte, might find themselves spending lots of time on the bench. Major changes are destined to come at Chelsea soon and all of Courtois, Hazard and Willian are heavily linked with moves away this summer, but even if they stay put for one more season the trio announced that they were not extending their contracts. Knowing that Sarri is trying to rebuild the squad and he already added to it Jorginho, who followed him from Napoli. Further signings can be expected before the Premier League season begins, with a new striker urgently needed. Morata wants out, while both Giroud and Batshuayi are not good enough to be starting up front regularly and Sarri is looking for a new regular centre forward. In defence and the inner midfield positions Chelsea look to have rich choices, but the options for the wide attacking areas are scarce and even if Hazard and Willian stay the alternatives are not many, which exposes the team. Especially considering Sarri’s desire to play with two aggressive wingers all the time. Courtois departed and despite paying world record fee for a replacement goalkeeper Chelsea might have issues in the role for several months as Kepa is relatively inexperienced and young. Plus he will need adjustment period to the Premier League. At least there was god news with Willian and Hazard deciding to stay for another year at the club. All-in-all Chelsea seem to be in a rebuilding mode these days and many more changes to the squad can be expected this August. Also Sarri might need a year or so to adjust to the demands of English football.