“One, on a practical basis, as if we keep declining it’s bad for our coefficient and we’ll lose one of our Champions League places”. Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona have picked up the titles, while no English club has returned to the final.
Advertisement
Chelsea played a free-flowing style in the first half of last season but when injuries, suspensions and loss of form kicked in after Christmas they started to adopt a more cautious, pragmatic approach in order to grind out results.
If this video isn’t to your taste, why not check out the same treatment to Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United.
In 2013 it was another failure from a national perspective, as no club made it past the round of 16. We, as Chelsea, we make our own rules. “It was a great season, I learned a lot, I played games in a different league”.
Enough to repeat as champions?
England’s players also had national team commitments after the Premier League season ended, with a goalless draw in a June friendly against the Republic of Ireland followed by a Euro qualifying 3-2 win over Slovenia on June 14.
However, anyone who knows anything about football will tell you that Arsenal are one of the few teams that have tried to buy success, instead spending many seasons on a tight budget as they paid off their new stadium.
Manchester City weren’t really close to challenging Chelsea for the title, dropping off quite early in the race.
José Mourinho and Arsène Wenger have complained that the prospects for England’s elite clubs are harmed in Europe by the league’s refusal to help them.
Matic added: “We used these days very well”.
Manchester United, just like last season, are spending big money.
United will be boosted by the new signings of Morgan Schneiderlin and Memphis Depay as well as World Cup winning Bastian Schweinsteiger, who could all feature in the Red Devil´s first match. The defense is still rocky, and the strike force might be relying too heavily on one player. A veteran, leader and proven victor.
Newcomers Watford, Bournemouth and Norwich City will inevitably be tipped as relegation fodder but Villa, Sunderland and Leicester City, all heavily involved in the scrap to avoid the drop last term, can not expect much more than mere survival.
Advertisement
In some European leagues, clubs involved in either the Champions League or UEFA Europa League can have domestic fixtures pushed forward or back to accommodate their extra exertions mid-week.
