Chelsea will be welcoming their new boss Antonio Conte after the European Champion and the fans from all around the world would be hoping to see a sense of optimism at Stamford Bridge. Antonio Conte has a great reputation due to his excellent managerial career, but we cannot overlook the fact that even one of the most successful managers, Mr. Louis van Gaal failed to do what was expected.
Our point being; the fans and the board will have to be patient with the manager. Conte will be carrying a great pressure on his shoulders as he will have to work with the current squad before taking any major step. Chelsea faced a major downfall last season and continuously lacked the confidence as well as the concentration, so the new manager will have to work with the current squad, to bring the players right back on track.
Besides that, he will have to sort out the issues regarding the potential exits of the current players. Players like Diego Costa, Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas has been heavily linked with a move away from the Bridge, and loosing these names, would be a huge loss for the team.
Conte needs to assess the current squad and will have to look out for those players, who perform really well, but go unnoticed.
So here are those 3 player, whose performance usually gets unnoticed:
-
Cesar Azpilicueta-
The 26-year-old Spanish defender joined Chelsea back in 2012 from the French side Marseille and quickly became the first team member of the squad. Azpilicueta, due to his versatility is capable of operating the game from both the flanks. Azpilicueta is a strong and pacy full back, who loves to join the attacks in times of counters.
Azpilicueta had an average season for the Blues in the last campaign, but that was due to the ineffectiveness of the rest of the players. Chelsea had a horrible time, but Azpilicueta was one of the their consistent performers. He played every single game for the blues in the Premier League, but one, and was pretty good at his job. While the entire season went on criticizing the team, very few observed how Azpilicueta performed.
-
Gary Cahill-
The 30-year-old Englishman is always struck in the middle of the brilliance of Zouma and the downfall of Ivanovic. To be perfectly honest, he has always remained under the shadows of others. Yes, fans do appreciate him, but he deserves more. Just like almost every player of the team, he had a tough time with the Blues, but that doesn’t change his abilities.
The Englishman won 60% of his average duels for the side last season and also scored 2 goals. Besides that, he averaged 8 defensive actions per game, but due to the backdrop of others, he failed to prove his worth.
-
Pedro-
The 28-year-old Spanish international is a proven winner, he doesn’t need any introduction. What he needs is the true support of the fans. Sometimes the heavy criticism causes a downfall in a player’s career and the like of Pedro and Tom Cleverley is the perfect example of that. Pedro joined Chelsea last summer after spending 8 years with Barcelona.
In his debut game for the Blues, he scored a goal and also bagged an assist. Just like everyone else, he didn’t have a game changing impact, but still managed to score 7 goals and create 42 chances. His future with the Blues is in immense doubt, but we think that he must be given another opportunity under Conte.