Jose Mourinho has challenged his Chelsea side to be even better than last season and retain the Premier League title.
The Blues have a relatively unchanged squad while their closest rivals have strengthened, but will still be the favourites going into the 2015-16 campaign.
So, ahead of their opener against Swansea, Sportsmail asks five questions facing Mourinho as he aims for further glory at Stamford Bridge.
Jose Mourinho is striving to win back-to-back Premier League titles with minimal additions to his squad
Chelsea dominated the 2014-15 race but with their main opposition improving it will be a challenge to repeat
With Diego Costa's injury concerns, can Radamel Falcao or Loic Remy step up?
There is no doubting Spain international Costa's talent - he scored 20 goals in just 26 appearances in his debut Premier League season. But will his recurring injuries hamper the champions' chances?
Chelsea look at their menacing best with even a half-fit Costa leading the line, and Mourinho has admitted he is concerned about the striker and doesn't know if he will be fit for the Premier League opener.
Radamel Falcao was brought in to help Loic Remy provide back-up to Costa, but there now seems to be a lot of pressure on the former Manchester United misfit to hit the ground running.
Diego Costa's niggling hamstring is causing a headache for Mourinho who knows how big a loss the striker is
Loic Remy (left) and new addition Radamel Falcao will have to step up for Chelsea if they're to succeed
Chelsea's pre-season form was poor - does that mean anything?
Yes, it is only pre-season and the Chelsea boss may have described the 1-0 defeat by Fiorentina as 'another good training session', but the Blues have yet to win one of their five friendlies in normal time, managing just 16 shots on target.
Last season, Mourinho's men started strongly with seven victories in 10.
Is pre-season form crucial? Probably not. Would Jose be saying it was if his side were winning? Absolutely.
After a flop of a season with Manchester United, Falcao's been given a chance to impress for the Blues
Is there enough strength in depth without more signings?
Chelsea currently have five senior defenders in the squad; Branislav Ivanovic, John Terry, Gary Cahill, Kurt Zouma and Cesar Azpilicueta.
That explains the current interest in John Stones and Baba Rahman, but Mourinho has said that 'the transfer window is over' for him.
There could also be concerns about squad depth should Nemanja Matic or Cesc Fabregas get injured, as well as a certain star...
Mourinho says the transfer window is over for him but interest persists in John Stones to add defensive depth
Is there too much reliance on Eden Hazard?
Hazard is the second-best player in the world behind only Lionel Messi, according to his manager, and the PFA Premier League player of the year was superb last season.
It's no wonder that Chelsea base a lot of their game plan around the Belgian winger, and though he has avoided injury in recent years, a long-term absence this season could be catastrophic for Chelsea.
Oscar and Willian work well with Hazard but aren't individual match winners, while Juan Cuadrado has yet to settle in English football.
Eden Hazard is the focal point for the Chelsea line-up, but is there too much pressure on the Belgian
Will youngsters be given a chance?
While players such as Patrick Bamford, Lewis Baker and Mario Pasalic have departed on loan, Chelsea still have talented starlets from an all-conquering youth side in their ranks.
Mourinho hasn't relied much on youngsters in the past and his criticism of promising midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek at the end of last season was damning.
What's more, Bertrand Traore played up front at Vitesse last season only to be placed at left back at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday. Does Jose trust them?
Mourinho doesn't appear to trust his youth players to step up and criticised Ruben Loftus-Cheek last year
No comments:
Post a Comment