The Chelsea fans in the Transfer Tavern are concerned about the season ahead…

The Blues have, for the most part, made a decent start to the 2017/18 season, particularly given their recent victory over Tottenham, but the hardest part of the season is yet to come.

Chelsea’s first team is full of quality, but their lack of strength in depth could pose a problem for Antonio Conte. This is a problem that the Chelsea brass did try and fix over the summer, but their work hit a few snags and that could cost them this season.

Indeed, when you consider the League Cup, FA Cup, Champions League and Premier League, it becomes clear that the Blues need a much larger squad than they currently have – and that’s a problem.

Retrospectively, the Blues could live to rue their mistakes over the summer – and here are two particular problems that Conte faces…

 Striker Issue

He has a real dilemma up front. Alvaro Morata is a top forward, but his lack of Premier League experience is a worry.

Similarly, Michy Batshuayi – despite playing in England for a year – has very few domestic goals to his name, and that may suggest that he is unreliable to be second in command up front.

Thus, Conte really should have signed a new forward – but that obviously didn’t happen.

When Chelsea are up against it and struggling, they need a reliable name up front to come in and score goals – and they just don’t have that at present.

 Alonso Deputy

Marcos Alonso had a fantastic debut season in England, but the lack of depth beyond him is worrying.

Indeed, there is actually not a single backup option for the Spaniard that will be able to have as much of an impact as he does. Given how many games are coming, this could mean that Alonso has to play pretty consistently over the next few months – and that will raise fitness concerns.

He might be able to stay fit, but if he doesn’t, that could be a big problem for the Blues.