Season Review: Chelsea in disarray after failed title defence

Chelsea’s defence of their Premier League title wasn’t as disastrous as the 2015/16 campaign when they finished 10th, but it’s still been fairly shambolic from Antonio Conte’s side.

Conte looks set to leave Chelsea this summer after two whirlwind years, but it could yet end on a high if they can beat Manchester United in the FA Cup final this weekend.

Nevertheless, finishing 5th means they have missed out on the Champions League for next season and that has surely only pushed the likes of Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois closer to leaving the club.

Conte’s decision to dispense of important players like Nemanja Matic and Diego Costa has backfired immensely, while Chelsea also need to assess the players they have signed.

Four of the seven players recruited over the course of the campaign had little-to-no pre-season and their struggles on the pitch suggest they have been playing catch-up ever since.

SUCCESS – ANDREAS CHRISTENSEN

Despite dropping out of favour in the last few months of the season, Andreas Christensen has successfully broken down the wall linking the academy to the Chelsea first-team.

Christensen will now be a model example to young players at the club with aspirations of making it at Chelsea, rather than getting lost in their vast loan system.

A few errors cost Christensen a place in the team towards the end of the season but the Denmark international can be pleased with his contribution, usurping the likes of David Luiz and Gary Cahill in the pecking order for a substantial period of time.

In fact, no player finished this season’s Premier League campaign with a better pass success rate than Christensen (93.4%) and now it’s important that Conte’s successor builds the Chelsea defence around the 22-year-old.

FLOP – TIEMOUE BAKAYOKO

Many suggested Chelsea had made the right decision replacing Nemanja Matic with Tiemoue Bakayoko. The 23-year-old is six years younger than Matic and arrived off the back of a superb campaign for Monaco. Chelsea even beat Manchester United to his signature.

However, Bakayoko's woes have been so bad that there has even been speculation linking the France international with a move away from Chelsea after just one season at the club.

The 23-year-old may still come good for Chelsea but the fact he underwent knee surgery prior to his arrival certainly did not help his cause.

Bakayoko has looked completely off the pace for most of the season, which is not entirely surprising when you factor in his lack of pre-season.

GRADE - D