Chelsea finished a staggering 33 points behind champions Arsenal in the Premier League table last season.
It shows the extent of the task at hand for Xabi Alonso. If you offered the new Chelsea boss fourth place today, he would surely take it!
However, The Chelsea Chronicle recently asked Chelsea supporters on TalkingPoints to share their expectations for Alonso in his debut season at Stamford Bridge.
Winning the Premier League title seems highly unlikely, but with the Blues playing once a week, perhaps it is not impossible. With that in mind, here are three things Alonso needs to do to give Chelsea a shot at becoming English champions again.
Sign a new goalkeeper and central defender
Last season, the goalkeeper and centre-back positions were an issue for Chelsea. Both Robert Sanchez and Filip Jorgensen made mistakes between the posts, while Trevoh Chalobah was the team’s only consistent centre-half.
Levi Colwill looked solid, but he only played four games after missing most of the campaign because of an ACL injury.
If Chelsea are going to challenge for the title, they need to address those two areas. Diogo Costa is being linked to Chelsea, so he could solve their goalkeeper dilemma.
Use three at the back like Antonio Conte
Chelsea were too leaky last term. That has to change if they want to move up the table.
It was a similar story in their last title-winning season in 2017 until Antonio Conte switched the team to a back three.
Alonso may have to do the same, and there is already talk that he could after his success with the 3-4-2-1 formation at Bayer Leverkusen.
Get Cole Palmer firing again
If Chelsea are to have any hope of pulling off a miracle next year, they need Cole Palmer back to his best.
Palmer is a match-winner, capable of scoring goals and creating them. He suffered a dip in form last season, which undoubtedly contributed to Chelsea’s decline.
Success and failure could hinge on which Palmer we see. If it is the 2023/24 season version, Alonso could be in for a very positive debut campaign at the Bridge.
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