Well, for starters, we do feel for the Chelsea supporters that endured season-long misery and if they consider themselves sane after all that, kudos to them. A season where anything that could have gone wrong actually went wrong. A lot of changes on and off the pitch were done and it has destabilised the club’s core – you can really see the effects through the negative body language players portray during games.
Join us as we go through a very eventful season for Chelsea, and do visit the LV BET Sports Blog where we are going through some of the top teams’ seasons and reviewing them one by one. We already did for Tottenham, Newcastle and Arsenal, both enjoyed contrasting fortunes this season.
THE BEST PART OF THE SEASON
As peculiar as it may sound, there was a hint of joy lurking somewhere this season for Chelsea. That high point during the season was when they defeated Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in the Champions League. For those who might get confused, the manager at the time was Graham Potter. That night, the atmosphere at Stamford Bridge was electric; everything clicked, players, manager and fans alike, but sadly it was short-lived. Progressing into the Champions League quarter-finals was crucial, both for morale and financially, and they got that over the line.
Now looking back, the result might have plastered over some cracks that were starting to appear during the Graham Potter short stint in charge. Could they once again have a successful campaign in the Champions League? They got drawn Real Madrid and tasted defeat both home and away without registering a single goal.
THE LOWS
This is where most of the season belongs, the stature of the club suggests that they should always be fighting at the top end of the table. For some time, there was a suggestion that they might just creep into the relegation conversation but a couple of points later a mid-table finish was confirmed.
So let’s all start from the very beginning, a club is not just the players and the manager, it’s the whole organisation and if it’s rotten at the top it could get bad very quickly. After the sale of Chelsea Football Club to Todd Boehly, the Amercian businessman and investor, a lot changed. People who were at the club for long years got replaced and new methods introduced, which is not always a bad thing. After a couple of underwhelming performances from the team, especially the defeat against Dynamo Zagreb, Thomas Tuchel was sacked from his role as a manager. In hindsight, that was nowhere near enough of a tipping point for the board to sack Tuchel but, the new owner wanted to make his mark on the team and he did just that by sacrificing the German coach. For some fans, they will consider this decision as the reason why they had such a terrible season.
Another notable low is the day Southampton completed the league double over Chelsea, something that had not been done since 1988. The reason why it’s so embarrassing is that the Saints finished rock bottom by some distance but still managed to beat them home and away. At that time, fans bemoaned Graham Potter, giving all the stick to him. Soon after he was gone as well, with his replacement being all time favourite Frank Lampard to see out the season and try and introduce some cohesion and confidence back. Frank Lampard’s second spell as a manager was from bad to worse, they seriously looked like children playing against men, in any given game. They only managed to win one game in their last 14 matches in all competitions, form that could have seen any other side relegated from the division.
NEW SEASON OPTIMISM
A couple of weeks ago it was confirmed that former Spurs manager, Maurizio Pochettino will take over at Chelsea for the 2023/24 season. It makes perfect sense for once, a manager whose strengths are developing young players to become their best versions of themselves and play attractive football. The signing of Enzo Fernandez already looked like a bright spark, assuming the role of the conductor from deep but Pochettino might want to move further up the pitch to provide defence-splitting passes for the forward line to latch onto.
Next season will be an important one for the team, a full pre-season with the new manager will help build back some harmony. The ingredients are there, it’s just a matter of time until they simmer and produce a Michelin star meal to be enjoyed by the Stamford Bridge crowd once again.