Chelsea Title Triumph – The Journey

The story of the season movie that is the 2016/17 title triumph for Chelsea will be in -complete without talking about the drama that unfolded the previous season.

Chelsea by their standard had a disastrous 2015/2016 season. in a title defence season, the blue boys of stamford bridge finished the season in 10th, with 50 points 31 points behind eventual winners leicester.

It was a season of turmoil with the eventual sacking of the self acclaimed special one ‘JOSE MOURINHO’, after falling out first with the medical staff which led to the sacking of portugese Eva Caneiro, then with high profile players in the chelsea squad.

Then came dutch coach guus hiddink who was brought in as care-taker for the second time to steady the ship, and slowly but surely the blues crept out of the relegation waters but missed out of europe entirely.

then came the summer and after weeks of speculation, former juventus coach Antonio conte was signed for £15million on a three year contract worth £5million a year.

The Italian tactician immedeiately swung into action as he signed belgium striker mitchy batshauyi from marseille for £33m, wing back marcos alonso from fiorentina for £23m, brought back former blues outcast and brazil defender david luiz from PSG for £30m, and finally midifield marshall and newly crowned player of the season ngolo kante after winning the title with leicester city.

conte loaned out and sold some chelsea stars after pre-season, which included striker betrand traore to ajax, mohammed salah left for undisclosed sum to roma, and winger juan cuadrado left for juventus in search for first team football. however, the italian gaffer decided to keep nigerian winger victor moses who had been loaned out by previous chelsea coaches. this decision along with the signings proved to be a master stroke.

The 2016/17 season started with conte retaining the line-up and formation from his predecessor. using the 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 as the case may be. these produced victories in the first three matches of the season against west-ham, watford and burnley respectively and a draw in the fourth encounter against swansea at home. a starting eleven that included keeper courtois, chelsea legend and captain john terry, gary cahill, branislav ivanovic, and azpilicueta in defence, a midfield comprising of kante, matic, brazilian oscar, willian and eden hazard, with diego costa the lone man up front.

Chelsea’s first real test of the season came at home against title contenders Liverpool, losing the tie 1-2. it was manager conte’s first loss as blues coach. the next fixture was away against london neighbours arsenal which ended in a 3-0 white wash for the roman abramovich boys. this meant back to back losses for the new gaffer.

Chelsea coach was swift with his response switching formation from 4-2-3-1 to 3-4-3. a style that had failed to work in england previously. players were dropped as well, with ageing captain john terry and ivanovic dropped to the bench, brazilan oscar was also dropped, in came wing backs marcos alonso and victor moses and defender david luiz.

The switch in formation was decisive as the stamford bridge landlords notched up thirteen straight victories between October 1st 2016 to december 26th 2016, against hull-city, defending champions Leicester city, up next was former chelsea coach jose mourinho and the red devils of old tradford, which ended in a 4-0 whitewash for manchester united with an early first minute goal from spaniard pedro rodrigues, also defeated in this sequenze of games were pep guardiola led manchester city and a 5-0 hammering of Everton. the 13 straight victories is a new chelsea record. this run meant as at december 2016, chelsea were 7 points clear at the top of the table.

At this point brazillian winger had lost his place to pedro rodrigues in the starting line-up, after picking up a knock on international duty.

At the turn of the year came the january transfer window with chelsea selling brazillian wizkid oscar and Nigerian John obi mikel to china, and branislav ivanovic to zenit st petersburg in russia.

The first match of the year was against totteham hotspur at white hart lane, and it put an end to the chelsea run. their london rivals and title contenders defeated chelsea 2-0. with a brace from red hot england midfielder dele alli in the 45th and 54th minute. the loss meant chelsea’s gap at the top was reduced to 5 points. with the blues on 49 points, and nearest rivals liverpool on 44 points as at week 20.

Chelsea ended january by completing a double over defending champions leicester city and hull city, and a 1-1 draw against  liverpool. february 2017, chelsea got their revenge against north london rivals arsenal, after racing to a three goal lead, through marcos alonso, eden hazard and former arsenal boy cesc fabregas, before french striker olivier giroud pulled one back for arsenal, the game ending 3-1.

Eden hazard was back to his dribbling self, coming up with the goals, creating goals and bringing his team-mates into the game. ngolo kante eventual player of the 2016/17 season was at his destructive best, breaking opposition play. he acted as the link between attack and defence and hence the other teams in the epl found chelsea a hard nut to crack. spaniard diego costa was a beast in attack, ready to fight for every ball. costa led the line well, scoring goals, creating goals and times hold-up play to perfection. the entire chelsea team knew what to do at every point in time, thanks to the master tactician in Antonio conte.

February and march 2017 came and the blues were at their devastating best, completing doubles over west ham and stoke. on the 1st of april chelsea lost 1-2 at home to crystal palace to goals from wilfred zaha and lanky belgium forward christain benteke, after taking a 5th minute lead through cesc fabregas.

The 2016/17 champions bounced back with a win over manchester city led pep guardiola, defeating the noisy manchester neighbours 2-1. totteham were mounting a last ditch title challenge of their own, winning 9 consecutive games between febuary 26th to april 30th. the gap between chelsea in first place and totteham in second place was down to 4 points as at game week 32.

Chelsea had no intention of letting up with win after win, the title run was finally over mathematically, on the 8th of may with a 3-0 one-sided encounter between chelsea and middlesbrough, goalscorers on the night were striker costa, marcos alonso and matic.

The final game of the 2016/2017 season was at stamford bridge, home ground of chelsea football club against sunderland. the game turned out not to only be the final game of the season for chelsea, but was also the final game for sunderland manager david moyes, who tendered his resignation as sunderland were relegated to the championship.

Speaking of finals, the tie on the 21st of may 2016 is the last time club captain and legend John terry 36, who turns 37 december 2017. Terry has played at chelsea since the age of 14, climbing through the ranks and winning titles with the blues. he was subtituted in the 26th minute (planned) to a standing ovation by the fans of both section and to a guard of honour by chelsea players for their captain, legend, brother and friend. the timing of the substitution was to signify his jersey number (26) which he wore through his time at chelsea. the game ended 5-1 in favour of chelsea, it was a perfect way to end the season as well as send terry off.

Chelsea ended the season with 30 wins, a new record and a total of 93 points, scoring 85 goals and conceding 33. the stamford bridge boys kept 16 clean sheets in the epl this season.

Diego costa ended the season as the leading chelsea scorer with 21 goals in all competitions, french born ngolo kante won the players player of the year for the 2016/17 season, which means he has won it two years in a row, another accolade went to chelsea boss antonio conte who won LMA manager of the year award, following chelsea’s triumph.

The triumph is chelsea’s 5th, and 2nd title in 3 years after wins in 2004/05, 2005/06, 2009/10, 2014/15.

STAND UP FOR THE CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!
CHELSEA CHAMPIONS 2016/17