Now that should mean the club should be sailing to the top of the Premier League, Right? Wrong. At the time of writing this blog post, Chelsea are currently 1 place above the relegation zone. Considering that Chelsea are a club of such high calibre, this is nowhere near good enough. Chelsea have some of the most recognisable players in the Premier League, some of them best in the league yet somehow, they have lost 3 out of 5 games this season. What the hell is going on? Well, I am going to go through some of the problems Chelsea have at the moment and to see how they can improve.
#01 - Transfers
For Chelsea, the summer transfer window was a complete shambles. Despite the impressive acquisition of Pedro from Barcelona, there have been many deals Chelsea have made this summer that are beyond questionable. For example, signing Radamel Falcao on loan from Monaco despite scoring only four goals in twenty five league appearances on loan at Manchester United. Young players such as Kenedy and Nathan who are unlikely to get a game at the club and in terms of club departures, selling club legend Petr Cech to biggest rivals Arsenal. The point is Chelsea didn't get the players that they should have got this summer, as proven by the continued rejected bids for Everton defender John Stones. Regardless of how well (or bad) Chelsea are doing by January, they need players that they are actually going to use instead of buying players just for the sake of it.
#02 - Defence
Like I previously said, the continued rejected bids of John Stones proved costly for Chelsea, because the current state of their defence is an absolute mess. Although not technically defence, No. 1 goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is out injured for 3 months forcing them to play backup goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, who has conceded 6 goals in the two games he has played for the club. In terms of actual defence, it is like I've said before, a mess. I appreciate everything captain John Terry has done for the club, but as painful as it is for me to say it, he's past it, he's slow and frankly, he's just not as good as he once was, although he shares the blame with right back Branislav Ivanovic who has gotten most of the flack for the club's recent defence problems, having made mistake after mistake since the season's start. Point being, with twelve goals conceded in five games, Chelsea need to sort their defence out, Fast.
#03 - Players who are failing to deliver
With the success of last season, I had little to no worries that the players who stood out the most last season would continue their success into the new season, Boy was I wrong, I know it's only been 5 games and I probably shouldn't judge too soon, but so far, the star players just haven't delivered. For example, Eden Hazard, who was not only Chelsea's star player last season but also the Premier League's best player, has only produced 1 assist so far and has failed to make his presence known in matches this season so far. Another example, Cesc Fabregas, who has done even worse than Hazard. So far he has had a pass rate of barely over 80% and has scored a whopping 0 goals and has produced a grand spanking 0 assists. A player of his calibre should be getting involved whenever he can yet he finds himself pushed back in defence and everything goes belly up. I hope that these players can start finding their feet this season because if our star performers can't play to the best of their ability, then that is a worry.
#04 - Underestimating smaller teams
This problem has not been happening this season, but also in previous seasons. The prime example of Chelsea under estimating a smaller team would be two weeks ago where Chelsea played at home to Crystal Palace, losing 2-1. This would most likely be because the manager thought that Crystal Palace like other clubs (Newcastle. West Brom etc) don't pose much of a threat to their title challenge unlike clubs such as Manchester City so they don't need to worry about those types of clubs. What Jose Mourinho and the rest of the Chelsea coaching staff need to understand is that all teams in the Premier League are a threat to them however big or small they are and they can have an influence on the title challenge as losing little games like that could eventually bite them back near the end of the season when they are (hopefully) competing for Top 4.
#05 - The Manager
Okay, this is going to be quite difficult to point out as I fully respect Jose Mourinho and everything he has done for Chelsea Football Club, but I can't help but feel that he has a huge responsibility in Chelsea's failings so far this season. It all began in the start of the season when he unusually criticized club doctor Eva Carneiro for running on to the pitch to treat an injury that wasn't deemed so serious by him, he then decided to ban her from coming to matches which put the club under heavy criticism. Not only that, but I feel like he refuses to accept any responsibility over what has happened recently and instead brands losses as "fake" and "unfair" when in actual reality, they reflect the performances of the team, there have been talks of him getting the sack but frankly, I think this is absurd, I still think he's a great manager and there is no-one better than him to lead the team, even if he does need to brush up on his attitude.
So there are the five things Chelsea need to fix on in order to improve their chances in the Premier League, they are currently 11 points behind leaders Manchester City leaving their title challenge hanging by a thread and if things don't pick up soon, I'm afraid that Chelsea 2015/16 could turn into Manchester United 2013/14 or Liverpool 2010/11
Thanks for reading!
