Antonio Conte may be just six days into his reign as Chelsea manager, but the Italian will already be convinced that his side needs a great deal more investment than just N’Golo Kante if they are to compete for the Premier League title.
A 2-0 defeat to Rapid Vienna in the Italian coach’s first game in charge showed that the flaws in the Blues squad are plentiful and cannot be masked by the signings of Michy Batshuayi and Kante, who was confirmed as their latest signing just two hours before kick-off.
As Conte ranted and raved from the sidelines, Nemanja Matic and John Obi Mikel will feel their positions in midfield could be under threat as the duo heavily underwhelmed against the Austrian giants.
Lining up in a 4-2-4 with immense width, Chelsea reverted to a 4-4-1-1 formation when they lost the ball.
However, their attack was heavily stinted as Ruben Loftus-Cheek was anonymous in the No.10 role, as he failed to supply Diego Costa with proper support as they advanced.
Eden Hazard will likely take over an important role in attack, but Loftus-Cheek’s performance will not have impressed the new boss and the visitors improved a lot after Oscar’s introduction at half-time.
Saturday’s clash was Chelsea's first in 60 days, while Rapid Vienna have played in six pre-season games and even a competitive match in the Europa League and their first domestic league match is just one week away.
Having only officially started working with the Premier League side on Monday, Conte is yet to properly stamp his mark on this team, so it was understandable they were losing out in 50-50 tackles and looked rather disjointed when in possession.
Victor Moses and Papy Djilobodji were surprise inclusions in Conte’s first starting XI, while Ola Aina, Nathaniel Chalobah and Cristian Cuevas emerged from the bench.
Moses had Conte in his ear for the whole game, but was one of their better players, with his dangerous drives at the hosts’ defence.
Oscar looks to have earned himself a start in the next match, performing well in the attacking midfield role when he came on, finding more space than Loftus-Cheek did and came close to making something happen.
Chelsea were much improved in the second half. Aina saw one cross hit the post and both Diego Costa and Oscar saw clear cut chances scuppered by team-mates who got in their way.
Conte's search for a new centre-back will re-enter his thoughts as Djilobodji does not look up to the required standard when on the ball.
The importance of the result is miniscule and there is no reason to panic, but the former Juventus boss will want to step up his search for defenders, while another striker will help strengthen the side he is tasked with rebuilding.
Costa was offered a pat on the back as he left the field but grew frustrated in the match due to a lack of service, with Rapid paying special attention to stopping him.
One of the 28,000 people in attendance at the brand new Allianz Stadion was Roman Abramovich who showed commitment to analysing his team's problems with his own eyes.
The Russian might have to dig deep financially to give his new manager resources to compete with Jose Mourinho who recorded a 2-0 win in his first game with Manchester United against Wigan after spending big so far this summer.
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- Goal