How Chelsea fell from champions to a rabble at Roma in less than six months

The recruitment, injuries and sale of Nemanja Matic are some of the reasons that Antonio Conte's team has collapsed dramatically. At the board level, there is sympathy for the manager, but patience is limited

Some of the locals called Antonio Conte as he walked towards the ramp to the Chelsea bus team after the match, with his head down to avoid any contact with the eyes and hands in his pockets, but most had sensed was not the time make an offer. Goodbye. The Italian had this thundering look on him, the kind that appears when his team has been defeated. Except that it had been a humiliation and an opportunity that had let him publicly question the most fundamental qualities expected of his players: hunger, desire and commitment to competition.

The transfer of the second half to Stadio Olimpico on Tuesday betrayed a team that had lost hope, its belief eroded by a mix that had let them play catching Rome from waste chaos and attack defense. The reaction, Conte quickly pointed out, was unacceptable. Although some may adhere to the belief that the resounding defeat may cause similar to the infamous beating suffered at Arsenal in the last two months of last season, the details of the Chelsea campaign feel this very different reaction time.

Where did everything go wrong?

Tale would indicate summer. He regularly used the word "emergency" to describe the season of his team, before listing the injuries that interrupted the progression, but his real complaint is recruitment. The problems are that the manager has proved correct. This squadron is not deep enough or strong enough to compete on four fronts with the same intensity as last season. They lack the caliber coverage that the coaches expected in both the rear wing, front and even, perhaps, in the center half. The club will do its best to address these concerns in January, but in Conte's opinion, it does not have the ability to cut and modify as much as it had planned. Even at Juventus, he has been criticized in some quarters for his reluctance to effectively rotate his team and rely too much on a grassroots group. Here again, the key members of your team are just whipped. César Azpilicueta played every minute of defending the Premier League title and all but 15 in the Champions League. Marcos Alonso has appeared in every league match. The 3-0 defeat at Stadio Olimpico was Cesc Fàbregas' sixteenth campaign match. "The likes of Cesc and Tiémoué Bakayoko have to play many matches and this affects their legs," said Thibaut Courtois. "It's harder for them to keep up the pressure, especially when we play three midfielders." Energy levels have clearly dropped.

Has the manager adapted his approach sufficiently?

The team seems exhausted, the enthusiasm that had elapsed for a long time in their game, to give the impression that, facing him in Rome, they were not hungry or struggling. Sometimes they can survive, recover from beating Watford or rule out a Bournemouth last Saturday a little disjointed, but the best teams, or even the coolest opponents, as proven last month- Crystal Palace feel they can exploit the fatigue . There has been murmur of discontent within the group by the intensity of the training sessions, but dissent as always intensifies when the teams work, if the sources are disgusted by the lack of selection or discomfort to be retrained prematurely. This team worked a lot harder at Cobham last season. Conte admitted that he had to reduce the number of training sessions due to a crowded schedule that was denied long weeks to prepare their physical group and tactically, but he was never likely to reduce the intensity exercises. It's just the way it works and it was a crucial approach to the incredible success of last season.

How bad were the injuries?

With the fatigue come stumps, jerks and adjustments that can destroy a season. Chelsea escaped serious injuries last season as, before the penultimate league meeting and with the title claimed, only 16 different field players had started. They are only 10 games in defense and this number is 17, with the rows of the inflated march wounded. David Luiz uses heavy straps on his right leg. Bakayoko, who has been rehabilitated after knee surgery, complains of groin pain. Victor Moses is still paralyzed, Danny Drinkwater has just returned from a problem in the calf and Alvaro Morata, his impact affected by this injury to the thigh suffered by Manchester City, has been clouded. He left Stadio Olimpico limping after a second half, and Eden Hazard, whose return to full form after an ankle operation was a prolonged process, had his eye raked. These are the usual bumps and bruises, of course, but they must be even smarter after such defeat of retribution. And then, of course, there's N'Golo Kanté.

How are you doing without the reigning footballer of the year?

The absence of the French disturbs everything. The team accepted 11 goals in the six games that were lost, a race that included a clean sheet at Vitality Stadium, with Conte forced to play a complete system when Kanté's energy and talent were denied to detect Kanté's energy. the risk. He does not trust anyone else at this time, be it Bakayoko or Drinkwater, to sit down with Fàbregas and free the Spaniard to lead the team's momentum. The player does not have the rhythm to play in a central two without Kanté, which means that the entire balance of the team is skewed. It was obvious in Rome, where Conte had waited so long for Kanté to return. Without him, the manager was very careful, but Chelsea was still overwhelmed in the middle and confused in the back. "N'Golo brings a lot of balance to the team but you can not push him if he does not feel ready," said Courtois. This team can not contemplate Sunday's game at home against Manchester United without him.

But why all the change in the back?

The decision to choose Gary Cahill to the right of a three and the right Antonio Rüdiger to the left felt a little strange, making the rearguard even more embarrassing. Conte expected his team to have enough coverage in midfield, with Cahill, Rüdiger, David Luiz, Andreas Christensen and Azpilicueta to fill all three places. However, many of its hinges rested on its wings. With Moisés hurt, Azpilicueta has returned to a utilitarian role and seems disoriented, as well as bored. Ideally, the coach would be satisfied with their strongest trio and would stay with them, but the schedule of the meetings does not allow for this luxury. And without Kante functioning as a busy shield, any combination of Conte's central defenders has become vulnerable. All the defensive discipline vanished in Rome, while Edim Dzeko showed almost comically crossing the three midfields before passing the ball to Diego Perotti without scoring. The panic had settled.

Are the sales of Nemanja Matic going after them?

The ill-tempered departure of Diego Costa has drawn attention, but it is also a Chelsea team without Nemanja Matic. The Serbian had operated together with Kante regularly last season with this combination, while occasionally missing the invention to defeat the opponents, an association so effective to protect the rear. Fàbregas tended to play more against teams that did not expect to dominate the ball, to make their way through the reserve. Once Matic reiterated his desire to leave during the summer, Chelsea had to find a viable alternative, but, while Bakayoko and Drinkwater settle, it is clear that he is missed. The fact that he returns to Stamford Bridge as a player of United this weekend, and with the smile of José Mourinho, proof that he has achieved a coup d'état to save him, is terribly untimely.

So, does another Premier League manager write on the wall?

The last time Chelsea was hit so hard in Europe was an equally chaotic humiliation at Juventus that cost Roberto Di Matteo his job a few months after the European Cup was lifted in 2012. does not get along well with his humiliated team. However, although the board was not completely impressed by Conte's perceptions of the depth of the team, there was still an acceptance that this season's return to the Champions League would dampen expectations. An element of realism has prevailed and there is a level of sympathy, although patience in Chelsea is always limited. If Conte sees his contract in 2019, he will always be open to doubts. Since we talked about an extension that was sold during the summer, the manager simply signed better terms as to the length of the agreement he had reached in the summer of 2016.

For now, with his family settled in London and the players still behind the man who led them to the title in May, the focus is on recovery. "Manchester City are nine points ahead of us, United four, Tottenham only one, and we have to stay close to them," Courtois said. "So, Manchester United is a winning game, we will give our lives for Sunday."