England Is Blue Again - Chelsea Are Champions.

The former Italian national team manager Antonio Conte came to England last summer to take over Chelsea, following their worst season in well over a decade and a tenth place finish. Less than 12 months later the London club are lifting the famous Premier League trophy again after a great season, a "great season" which could be a "fantastic season" should Chelsea complete the domestic double by beating Arsenal in the FA Cup final, says the Italian manager.

The Blues became champions on Friday 12th May after a 1-0 away win against West Brom, making them the first champions the be crowned on a Friday. They secured the title with two games to spare, after closest challengers Spurs lost to West Ham at the London Stadium earlier in the week. The goal scored by young Belgian Michy Batshuayi, the striker has been on the fridges at Stanford Bridge for most of the season but his goal that secured a 6th league title for Chelsea will be one that puts his name history.

It's been a very successful season season for Conte's men, one which did not get off to the best of starts. Following a relatively convincing opening to the campaign, Chelsea failed to register a win in the month of September, losing games to both Arsenal and Liverpool comfortably, as well as a draw to Swansea. However it was the loss to the former which lead to, in the eyes of many, the change in direction for the London club which has taken them to the title. Chelsea then went on a 13 game win streak, not conceding a goal in the first 6, and registered a 4-0 win against former manager Jose Mourinho's Manchester United, and a 3-0 win against now former champions Leicester City in the process. In total Chelsea have since lost just three times in 26 league games following their defeat to Arsenal, going from 6th in the table to holding a commanding lead at the top and a ten point lead over rivals Spurs with two games to play.

The stars of Chelsea, who last season struggle to find any form have this season flourished. With Diego Costa and Eden Hazard both hitting double figures in terms of goals this campaign, scoring 20 and 15 respectively. Winger Pedro has found a new role throughout the season at wing back, but that hasn't hindered the former Barcelona player one bit, with the Spanish native reaching both 8 goals and assists, being involved in more goals then anyone outside of Costa and Hazard for the champions. The switch to a three centre back system following their defeat to Arsenal is one which truly allowed the Chelsea back line to flourish. David Luiz and Gary Cahill both came under criticism early in the season, especially the Brazilian with many people wondering what caused Chelsea to re-sign him from PSG. However when full back Cesar Azpilicueta moved inside and joined centre of defence, all three men upped their performances, which lead to the 6 match clean sheet run which really kick started the season. One signing however that really shocked was Marcus Alonso. The Spaniard, who failed to nail down a place in the Bolton side all those years ago joined Chelsea and slid perfectly into the left wing back position and has consistently put in quality displays down that left side. Alonso registers 3rd for the club in terms of tackles won and aerial battles won, the man bought in from Italy also finished as the clubs 5th top goal scorer, contributing 6 league goals so far.

The man I'm yet to comment on however is the PFA Player of the Year, becoming only the second man in history to win back to back Premier League titles at two different clubs, with the other being Aussie stopper Mark Schwarzer, N'golo Kante. The Frenchman has been the anchor in Chelsea's midfield that has allowed their attacking players the freedom they need. After an 'un-sung hero' season at Leicester last year, Kante has been at the forefront this time around, as everyone has been able to see what an incredible job he does. Chelsea have a history of brilliant holding midfielders, with Claude Makelele inventing the 'Makelele' role, and being closely followed by fan favourite Michael Essien. Kante is the latest in this list and perhaps the quickest to get the credit that all of the great players playing this role deserved. Kante registered first in both tackles and interceptions for the champions, underlining just how effective he has been for Conte's side. And, unlike last season, Kante's impressive performances were acknowledged by his peers, being awarded the PFA Player of the Year award, and rightly so.

Congratulations to Chelsea and everyone who is involved in the club for a very successful league campaign. As I previously mentioned the champions will now be chasing the domestic double, with an FA Final against Arsenal on May 29th. It is fitting that the fixture that really turned Chelsea's season around will also close the season. They will next season return to the Champions League after a rare absence during this campaign, and we'll be able to see if Conte's side can translate their domestic success across the continent.

El Ca$hico - The Premier League battle of riches

Since the turn of the century the English Premier League has become over run with teams trying to buy their way to success. Without a doubt the two teams with the most success are Manchester City and Chelsea, these two sides have been the most consistent sides at challenging for the title in the last four or five seasons due to the amount of money they have spent in creating the strongest squads in the league.


Coming into the 2015/2016 Premier League season, Chelsea and Manchester City have won one each out of the last two titles, and have been named as the two favourites for this campaign. El Ca$hico as the fixture has been came to be known was first the first big clash of the season, with the Manchester club running out comfortable 3-0 winners, confirming their challenge for the title. Early on in this season the holders Chelsea have struggled to put in the performances which made winning last seasons title so visibly easy, the question is can they get back on track to retain their title, or will Manchester City keep up their early season dominance and win the Premier League title. Today I will compare these two sides and state which side I feel will win the 2015/2016 Premier League title.


Starting with the title holders Chelsea, Jose Mourinho turned heads with his signings at the start of last season, bringing in the likes of Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa, these two player topped the league in goals and assists and played a massive part in their title winning campaign. However at the start of this season, unlike all their title rivals who have spent big to improve their sides, Chelsea had failed to add to the team that won last years title, with the exception of Manchester United misfit Radamel Falcao. Until late on in the transfer window, Chelsea completed the signing of Spanish winger Pedro, who put in a man of the match performance on his debut, scoring the opening goal in the 3-2 win over West Brom. However, this transfer period can without a doubt be declared as a failure for Jose Mourinho's side, as they failed to secure Everton defender John Stones, a man they chased throughout the duration of the summer. The reason this failed signing is having such an impact on Chelsea's season is the drop in form of former England captain John Terry. The Chelsea skipper has been a first team regular since the early 2000's in the Chelsea back for, but at the age of 34, many suggest that he may be past his best days. Many individual mistakes, as well as his first red card in five years is a big factor in why the champions are left with only four points after their first four games, the second worst tally at this point of the season for defending champions in premier League history.


In the 2014/2015 season one thing that was pretty much assured when Chelsea played was that the Belgium winger Eden Hazard would put in a solid performance for the blue, and more often then not, would play a big hand in a Chelsea win. However at the start of this season, the PFA player of the year has struggled to carry on the form from last season as this has had a sizable impact of Chelsea's performances so far this time round. The Chelsea number 10 looks much more similar to the Hazard we saw when he first arrived in England, unfit and unable to deal with the physical demands of the Premier League. Now I'm in no doubt that the playmaker will return to his previous form sooner or later, but the question is whether he can have as much of an impact on Chelsea's results as he did last season. If Chelsea hope to retain their title, they may have to hope their star man returns to his previous great form as soon as possible.


Now onto the worlds richest club, Manchester City. Sheikh Mansour's side have won two out of the last four premier league titles, their first since 1968, finishing second in the other two seasons, they have also secured one FA Cup and one Capital One Cup. They have done this by being the highest spending side in the league year after year, spending over £1,000,000,000 since Shaikh bought the club in 2008, it makes City the second highest spending side in premier league history (behind Chelsea), and they have done this in much shorter time then their closest rivals. After spending much of the previous two decades jumping between the first and second tier of English football, its a welcomed change of pace for the City fans to see their side at the peak of English football. Manchester City have also recently broke the premier league transfer record, signing Kevin De Bruyne from Wolfsburg for an estimated £55,000,000, the addition of the Belgium international took City's spending for this summer to £153,000,000. Its spending like this that has made City one of the must successful sides in the Premier League over recent years, and its spending like this which has made them one of the top contenders for this years title.


Manchester City have started the 2015/2016 season at top pace, winning all four of their opening four games, including a dominant victory over champions Chelsea. With consistency being the main reason City failed to defend their title last season, this start to the campaign will put smiles on many City fans faces. The addition of 2015 golden boy winner Raheem Sterling, along side the returning Sergio Aguero, the Spaniard David Silva in some of the best form of his career, and the return to form of Yaya Toure has seen Manchester City play some of the best football we've seen in the premier League in recent years, and they look like the out right favourites for the title early on. Manchester City skipper Vincent Kompany came under plenty of criticism throughout last season for failing to live up to the high standards he had set for himself through the years. However at the start of this season the Belgium international seems to have returned to the great form which has played a big part in City's previous two title winning seasons. Alongside new boy Nicolás Otamendi, City's defence looks as strong as ever. Another knock to City's campaign last time out was the inconsistency  of number one goal keeper Joe Hart. The England number one spent periods of the season on the bench due to his inconsistency, and this had a major effect on results for the Manchester side. However Hart has started this season with four clean sheets out of four, and looks back to his best. These are all factors as to why City look to be the favourites this season.


Due to a combination of transfer window success, and early form I believe Manchester City will win the 2015/2016 Premier League title, and in crushing style too. I am going to  make a prediction that the title will be secured before the 1st of May! However nothing is certain in football, particularly in England, we will never know for sure until the final whistle for this season is blown.