This was not quite the coronation Chelsea were dreaming of; at one point the West Brom fans were singing: “We forgot that you were here.” Antonio Conte said he wanted to win the title this weekend, as soon as the opportunity presented itself, but he could not have imagined it would take a substitute, a scruffy goal and 82 minutes of toil before his players would be able to make their superiority count.
Though unconvincing for much of the night Chelsea can now use their two remaining home games for parading the trophy, preparing for the FA Cup final and perhaps promoting a few fringe players. They will then spend the summer preparing for the Champions League, in an attempt to answer those who have pointed out their ascent of the Premier League this season was made easier by the lack of European commitments.
Arsène Wenger was the latest to make that observation, noting the last two title winners did so without European distractions, and adding for good measure that Chelsea remind him a little of Leicester in their counter-attacking style and disdain for possession statistics. Leicester were eventually found out in this season’s Champions League, though in all fairness they gave it a good go, staying a round longer than Arsenal and managing to avoid taking a battering.
It is safe to say Chelsea will not be using Leicester’s adventures in Europe as a template to follow. Neither Roman Abramovich nor Conte will be wide-eyed or dreamy about the prospect, believing it might never happen again. Chelsea’s mission in the summer will be to strengthen further, adding more high-calibre players to an already capable squad, with a view to using this season’s success as a springboard to rejoining the European elite.
The really big clubs are never satisfied and a manager like Conte knows well enough that what follows getting ahead is staying ahead. Assuming he stays he will earn a sizeable part of whatever bonus or improved contract he manages to negotiate for the work he does before the start of next season, identifying the areas that need improvement, recruiting top-quality players, then attempting to give everyone enough games to keep them happy. Champions League involvement makes that sort of thing a little easier, though from a Premier League perspective it is not easy to work out where the weak links might be hiding.
A question that could be asked, for example, is whether a side that can afford to leave the PFA and FWA player of the season on the bench in such an important game actually has any weak links. Cesc Fàbregas, N’Golo Kanté’s temporary replacement in midfield, certainly does not count. Fàbregas earned such rave reviews for his part in the last Chelsea victory it would have been harsh to drop him. In this position at least Conte would appear to already have the quality double cover he desires.
Fàbregas rolled a shot narrowly wide on the half-hour, trying to take matters into his own hands after spending most of the game attempting to orchestrate Chelsea’s attacks. West Brom like to sit deep and counter too, even when playing at home, and they were quite happy to let their opponents have the ball and see what they could do with it. The first half suggested they could apply plenty of pressure, without necessarily finding a way through. A splendid through-ball from Fàbregas might have brought a goal after five minutes had Pedro been able to get into the right shape for a volley but after reading the pass and meeting the ball the forward could not keep his shot on target.
The same combination brought another near-miss from a free-kick but the longer the game remained scoreless the slower and less effective Chelsea’s approach work became. Perhaps Wenger has a point about possession. Several pressing and quick-breaking sides have found it difficult this season against opponents content to keep a defensive shape and soak up pressure. It is a dangerous game, allowing players like Eden Hazard and Fàbregas time on the ball, though Albion reached the interval without mishap. Hazard in particular is a player who appears to perform better when travelling at speed – take the urgency out and cut down the space to run into and he is less effective. With Fàbregas pulling most of the attacking strings Hazard was peripheral here for too much of the time, as was Diego Costa, who showed willing early on by dropping deep for the ball and neatly turning Craig Dawson, but was otherwise a disconnected and mostly notional threat up front.
Chelsea managed to up the tempo a little at the start of the second half but failed to produce anything Ben Foster could not deal with until the goalkeeper was beaten from close range by Michy Batshuayi’s scuffed but decisive strike. Just occasionally, and probably to Wenger’s amusement, they over-elaborated in front of goal and began to look a little like Arsenal. They are still worthy champions – no one can be in any doubt about that – but they could do with getting some of the old directness back. Or perhaps just the old Costa back. No team, as Conte will doubtless soon be pointing out, can afford to regard itself as unimprovable.
