If you had asked me at the start of the season ‘where would you like Chelsea to finish?’, my reply would have been for them to finish in the European places and have a good run in the cups. We’re halfway through the season now, and Chelsea are not far off achieving those aims of mine. They are now just three points off the European qualifying positions and are two games away from a cup final at Wembley. So, if they can get into a run of form in this new year that is easily attainable. Whatsmore, Chelsea are now into the next round of the F.A. Cup; another opportunity to go far in the oldest knockout football competition in the world.
I think it is safe to say, however, that the first half of the season has not gone exactly as Chelsea fans might have hoped. Progress has been a matter of one step forward, two steps back. The Blues have won as many games as they have lost this season. When they seem to have hit a bit of form or an understanding with each other about how Pochettino wants the team to play, they immediately hit a snag. We saw it earlier in the season, when Chelsea lost to Wolves after a run of three wins in a row. The team has still not found the fluency that you might hope to start seeing around this time. I’m never sure what to expect when watching Chelsea anymore. They can play like two completely different teams in the same game of football. A perfect case in point was last weekend’s game against Preston North End. Chelsea looked sluggish and out of ideas in the first half, only creating two genuine openings; one of which was well saved by Freddy Woodman and the other was put wide.
In the end, the quality of the players in the Chelsea squad told and they ran in four goals in quick succession. Now, I’ve seen plenty of early round F.A. Cup games like that, where you go thinking Chelsea will flatten the opposition and then struggle to for the first half. The deadlock is typically broken before the hour mark and then a quick flurry of goals at the end makes the scoreline for like what you were expecting. And Chelsea have done that sort of thing all season long. They’ve shown the ability to retain the ball well and even move it up the pitch effectively. However, the same problems that have plagued the team for the last few seasons still persist, despite all the money spent by the new ownership. For one thing, the team still struggle to finish chances with any regularity. That’s nothing new, but we’ve also seen some defensive mistakes creep in that were not there before. One reason for that is probably that a lot of the signings made in the summer were made for their potential, rather than what they would deliver straight away. And given that the Premier League is an extremely physical league where attackers especially are not given time on the ball or time to adjust. It is a league where you have to hit the ground running to be a success quickly.
I am of the opinion that the younger players brought in by the sporting directors at Chelsea all have significant potential and are definitely worth persisting with; however, I do feel that too much focus has gone into finding young players with high potential, and not enough into finding experienced players who can help guide those players and bring a steady hand to proceedings. That’s not going to be possible in January. Clubs are never going to want to lose members of their first-team squads partway through the season, unless they receive a ridiculous offer. To be fair though, the Chelsea ownership have proved willing in the last couple of years to pay fees that do just make you go ‘WHAT?!’.
The focus for the rest of this season, for me, should be to reach the League Cup final, go as far possible in the F.A. Cup and aim to finish in the European places in the league. I’m not even saying aim for the Champions League spots. Too much ground has been lost in that race in my opinion, so going for the Europa League and Conference League spots is what should be the goal. The Premier League has become so competitive in the top half that at least two teams that you look at and think should be in European competition are going to lose out. Pochettino’s goal for the rest of the season should be to make sure that Chelsea are not one of those who miss out. After that, the real work will begin.
This piece was written before Chelsea’s League Cup semi-final first leg against Middlesborough on 9/01/2024
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