Three areas Chelsea must improve next season to challenge domestically and in Europe

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After a remarkable season, in which Chelsea went close to securing a double after finishing in mid-table last season, it may be hard to find three areas in which the Blues have room for improvement going into the 2017/18 season as they seek to defend their Premier League title.

However, even the brilliance of Antonio Conte and his squad have had some weaknesses – as have been exploited at times – never more so, for example, than in their embarrassing FA Cup final defeat to Arsenal, which put a disappointing end to what had been a very memorable campaign.

Read on to find three of the major areas for improvement for Conte and co. next season…

Squad depth

Throughout their hugely successful 2016/17 season, one of the stand-out features was the fact that, from September until May, Antonio Conte’s starting eleven barely changed unless injuries or suspensions forced the Italian to make changes, and even then that was quite rare.

Off the bench, Chelsea lacked the kind of quality to make a difference and often found themselves relying on individual quality from the likes of Eden Hazard to make a difference late in games, rather than from added bursts of quality from the substitutes’ bench either home or away.

If Chelsea are to compete on an added front in Europe next season, as well as remain a powerful force domestically in the Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup, then they will need that depth more than ever, just to get by, let alone to handle the added number of injuries and the rotations required.

Read on over the following pages to see what else we can learn…