A new season is upon us. All the talk is about soaring temperatures, transfer window frustrations and the hopes of the season ahead.
Soon that will change to the continuing issue of fixture congestion, the freezing conditions and the realisation/shattering of those new season hopes. Either way, strap yourself in for what promises to be one of the most pivotal in the club’s recent history. They all are billed as critical, but with the change of ownership, and a strange season last time out, this one really does feel crucial for the club’s short, mid and even long-term future. So what needs to happen for it to be a successful ten months and not a disappointing or frustrating one?
First of all, the heading asked what Chelsea need to do to become world beaters again, which is what the club actually are of course, after claiming their one missing piece of silverware in Abu Dhabi last February. The vast majority of that achievement can be put down to the team’s efforts in the previous season actually winning the Champions League, however. But how do they have to improve as a team, or squad?
An Opportunity Missed
The general consensus is that last year was disappointing. An opportunity missed. If you step away a little though, things look a lot brighter. Tuchel got his side to the top of the league in December. Take away a run of eight games where they dropped 18 points (the difference between them and Liverpool at the end) and it was a successful league campaign, with a third-place finish. Those eight games were all winnable, and for most of them, they were the better side, and but for poor finishing and clumsy defending, they would have won the majority. Added to that, Chelsea reached two domestic finals, losing both on penalties and lost to the eventual winners, Real Madrid in the Champions League in crazy fashion. Suddenly it doesn’t look too bad.
Lukaku has gone, which is no great loss, on last season’s performances, but the departure of Rudiger and Christensen are bigger gaps to fill, one of which has been admirably plugged by Kalidou Koulibaly. Marc Cucurella is also a very good signing (if you ignore the perhaps inflated price tag), and everyone knows what Raheem Sterling has to offer. The fact that Tuchel has been left frustrated with several other transfers coming to nothing suggests the German is not happy with what he has at his disposal, however.
Strength in Depth
They need a goal scorer, in all likelihood they need two. Mason Mount was their top scorer last season with 11 goals. Compare that to the strike forces of their major rivals, domestically and in Europe. Tuchel’s Chelsea are best when they play their 3-4-3 formation. Things went wrong for them last season when they were forced to abandon it when key personnel went missing. The manager will want to go into the season knowing he has the depth of squad that will allow him to both stick to his preferred system even with injuries and to change to a back four if the need arises without compromising either their potency up front or their frugality in defence. That of course will especially be the case when the aforementioned spectre of fixture congestion looms large, which it inevitably will even with the enforced winter break.
Conor Gallagher showed in his loan spell at Palace – and for England – what a fantastic prospect, and indeed player he is. He could very well be their biggest “signing” of the season. There is also the case of Billy Gilmour, a player who has to start living up to his potential after a disappointing loan at Norwich last season.
The biggest problem for Chelsea this season may very well be nothing to do with what happens at Stamford Bridge but what is going on with the other five or six teams all vying for the top four places. There is genuine competition all the way down to eighth or even lower. Chelsea could do everything they think is asked of them and still finish outside the top four. How long will Tuchel be given then? That is probably a question for another day. But to answer the question in the title, what do they need to do? On the face of it a lot, but in essence, most of the pieces are already there, they just need to make sure they are put in the right places.
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