Tuesday 16 May 2017 06:39, UK
Antonio Conte has guided Chelsea to the Premier League title in his first season and could yet complete a double if they beat Arsenal in the FA Cup final.
So what does the Italian need to do to maintain that success and improve next season?
Speaking on Monday Night Football, Sky Sports expert Gary Neville said this Chelsea team is not yet as good as the one that won the title under Jose Mourinho in 2004/05 and outlined four challenges which Conte must overcome if he is to push them forward.
1. The physicality of European commitments
The first challenge is a physical one. It's an incredibly big advantage when you play less football, you have more time to prepare, more time to recover, and it's a big advantage against the teams that are playing in the Champions League and Europa League.
The 38 changes Chelsea made this season, along with Leicester's last season, are the lowest-ever number of changes by a team that has won the Premier League, by a long way.
The average title winner usually makes 117-120 changes a season. If you are not in the Champions League or Europa League you have a huge advantage…We have seen in the last two years with Leicester and Chelsea, and also Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool when they weren't in Europe and nearly won it. The biggest challenge I think moving forward is physicality.
2. Can they keep it up mentally?
The second challenge is mental. These are the same players that have let Chelsea down before, they have dropped off, climbed the mountain and then can't get themselves up for the next season.
I can't imagine they are going to drop to 10th next season, but Conte's big job over the summer is re-motivating those players.
You can blame last time on Jose Mourinho, but I'm not sure it's all about that. It's about a team that has won the championship and achieved great things then getting themselves set for next season when it's tougher, you're in the Champions League and going on multiple fronts and expectations are higher.
Conte's in his second season and he's a methodical type coach who does repetitive drills. How will they mentally cope with that over the summer?
Conte has to make sure when they finish the FA Cup final he gives them the pre-season programme to make them think they better be ready for the start of next season. The mentality of the players coming back next season and how they approach it is the challenge for Conte.
3. What to do with Diego Costa?
Costa, for me, is an animal for this Chelsea team. When he's not scoring, he's contributing with the way Chelsea play with a single striker. If he leaves, it's a huge void to fill. Forget the fact that you can get someone to score the goals that he scores, which will be a challenge in itself, but to replace that personality, that fight.
How many balls has he headed out of his own box this season? How many times has he chased things down? How many times has he made angles for Hazard and played one-twos? All the things that go with Diego Costa. So if he leaves there's a huge void.
If he stays he's certainly not going to be able to play in 93 per cent of the team's minutes (as he has this season). I just cannot believe he'll be able to repeat that next season. So how will he be able to rotate if he stays or how will he be able to replace that personality if he leaves.
4. Dealing with a Manchester revival?
The last challenge is that he is going to have two Manchester clubs who are going to be throwing £300m to £400m at it between them, who are hurting and who are under significant pressure next season to deliver.
And if they don't deliver there's going to be a big problem. So there are four big problems there for Antonio Conte and I'm sure he's thinking about them already.
