Chelsea FC Preview

Chelsea FC Preview

Chelsea took their first steps into a new era in 2022-23, with Todd Boehly’s May takeover launching the club in a new direction.

Much of the off-season was taken up by the transfer of ownership and completion of sale, with chairman Bruce Buck, directors Marina Granovskaia and Eugune Tenebaum and technical director Petr Cech among the high-profile names departing after many years at the club.

Restructuring at board level was just part of a multi-layered process that took in changes in personnel from top to bottom at SW6 – and there was plenty to be done to get the playing squad into shape.

The summer departures of centre-backs Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen and long-serving wingback Marcos Alonso saw the backline needing an extensive rebuild, while the exits of strikers Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku left the club searching for attacking reinforcements.

To label it merely as a transitional summer would underplay an extraordinary amount of change at the club.

Given the legal, financial and even diplomatic complications of the Boehly consortium takeover – not to mention the knock-on effect of a pre-existing transfer ban and freeze on contract renewals – the start of 2022-3 marked the culmination of arguably the most challenging period any top-flight club has experienced within the Premier League era.

A fresh start

As the Chelsea players stepped out at Goodison Park for their opening match of the season against Everton, the away fans greeted their team with a mixture of excitement and relief.

Supporters had finally put the lingering threat of points deductions and administration behind them and could again focus on the football – a joyous occasion for all.

But while the off-pitch crisis had passed, it was to be expected that the after-effects would linger given the scale of turnover in both the boardroom and dressing room.

Three new signings came straight into the team, with Raheem Sterling leading the line, Kalidou Koulibaly replacing Rudiger in the heart of the defence and Marc Cucurella coming on to make his bow. A disjointed performance was no surprise given the recent turmoil, but a Jorginho penalty got the job done and saw Chelsea return home with all three points.

The next outing provided a worse result but a more encouraging performance as Thomas Tuchel’s men dominated rivals Tottenham but somehow came away with only a 2-2 draw. A baffling refereeing decision allowed Harry Kane to equalise deep into added time and emotions erupted on the sidelines, with Tuchel sent off for an altercation with Antonio Conte.

It appeared that six months of intense stress had built up on Tuchel and the cracks were starting to show. In hindsight, it seemed a turning point. Tuchel losing his cool that Sunday afternoon marked the beginning of the end of his highly decorated time in the Stamford Bridge dugout.

While Chelsea’s home results remained solid, their away form started to falter and four weeks after Tuchel’s touchline altercation – and in the wake of a Champions League group-stage defeat at Dinamo Zagreb – Tuchel and Chelsea parted ways.

It was a sad end to a fantastic spell. Tuchel had brought Champions League glory back to the club as well as a Uefa Super Cup and Fifa Club World Cup, while suffering near-misses as runners-up twice in the FA Cup and once in the Carabao Cup. It would be some act to follow.

New manager, new mindset

Graham Potter would be the man chosen to succeed Tuchel, and the arrival of the former Brighton manager was an indication of a change of direction under Boehly’s ownership.

Previously, short-term success had been prioritised over long-term projects – the instant accumulation of trophies deemed more important than the adoption of an appealing philosophy or the embrace of a stylish identity. Managers such as Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte and Tuchel were not brought in to build an empire on the foundations of free-flowing football but were hired as pragmatic winners who could offer a guarantee of immediate success.

The appointment of Potter suggests that is now changing – the new ownership keen on bringing an attractive brand of football to Chelsea to market the club as an aspirational entity. Aesthetics will be as keenly sought as silverware to boost the club’s worldwide appeal.

But the process will be a lengthy one that requires patience from the Chelsea faithful, who may themselves need to change how they define success in the short term.

It might take some readjusting. After nearly two decades of Chelsea’s conveyor belt of trophies bringing countless titles to cheer, supporters may now have to learn to appreciate the joys of squad building and steady improvement over the instant hit of silverware.

If it works, the payoff could be enormous. A considered Chelsea style built on Boehly’s funding could rise to be admired across the globe – emulating the Barcelona team of the noughties and the Alex Ferguson-era Manchester United.

Titles will follow once an identity is established and the Blues can grow to wow while they win. But the transformation will take time and bumps in the road will have to be endured.

A slow start but no panic

Potter kicked off his Chelsea career with a run of nine games unbeaten in which the Blues rose from bottom to top of Champions League Group E while also returning to the top four in the Premier League.

However, results dipped as we neared the World Cup break and a run of four defeats in the final five matches had some of the more fretful Blues fans worrying that Potter was not up to the job.

There is no reason to panic.

We are just 14 matches into Potter’s reign and the former Brighton boss has yet to enjoy a pre-season in which he can instil his footballing philosophy.

He has also had the cards stacked against him. Not only has there been no pre-season but this strange, World Cup-interrupted schedule has resulted in a crazy fixture list in which Chelsea have next to no time on the training pitch.

Moreover, the injury crisis at the Cobham Training Ground has to be among the worst it has ever witnessed, with defensive absences decimating Potter’s rearguard.

Midfield lynchpin N’Golo Kante has been absent throughout Potter’s tenure, while Reece James was available for only two matches and Fofana just one. Goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga and wingback Ben Chilwell each missed the defeats to Arsenal and Newcastle. Chelsea were also without Sterling for November’s trip to Newcastle, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek lasted only five minutes at St James’ Park and Cesar Azpilicueta had to come off at half-time.

It is no exaggeration to say Potter’s squad has been almost entirely stripped of defensive options and it would be naïve to expect results to hold up in such circumstances.

However, the injuries will clear and a full-strength Chelsea squad is a different beast to the one that limped to the line before the World Cup. Once Potter is armed with his full array of Chelsea talent, we will finally start to get a sense of what he can do with it.

Looking ahead

Chelsea may not currently be where they want to be but things are far from disastrous. There will be no Premier League title charge but a top-four finish and another tilt at silverware can still be achieved – and that would make for a solid season in this most transitional of campaigns.

Potter’s men sit only eight points behind Tottenham in fourth with a game in hand and have 24 matches in which to bridge the gap. Top-four rivals Manchester United and Arsenal will now find life tougher as the quality of their Europa League opponents suddenly increases – it is one thing resting and rotating against the likes of Bodo/Glimt and Sheriff Tiraspol, but quite another doing the same against Barcelona.

Those teams will start to suffer and, with Chelsea’s injuries clearing, momentum should swing the other way – despite the early wobble, the Blues are still right in the mix for a top-four finish.

And things look bright in Europe after the first-place finish in Group A gave the Blues a tie against Dortmund in the Champions League last 16.

That draw could have been far worse – not just because Paris Saint-Germain were potential opponents had Chelsea finished second but because this Dortmund side are not the force they were.

The Bundesliga outfit have only twice in the past eight years gone further than the round of 16 and have not gone beyond the quarter-finals since 2012-13. Last term they crashed out at the group stage behind Ajax and Sporting and in this year’s group stage they won only two of six games, drawing against Sevilla and Copenhagen. They sit sixth in the Bundesliga having won only two of eight games against top-half teams, losing five. Chelsea should be confident of progressing.

Looking forward to a fitting finale

A season of ups and downs has followed arguably the most tumultuous period in Chelsea’s history, but the highs and lows of 2022-23 have been mere aftershocks as the club rediscovers its serenity.

The bumps in the road under Potter have come as a result of an extraordinary number of injuries in an extraordinary season and while it may not feel so right now, Chelsea are starting to settle.

Potter will benefit from the World Cup break to get his ideas across to 13 key players who remain at the club and many of those players will regain full fitness as they absorb Potter’s tactical instructions.

It should result in Chelsea returning for the second part of the campaign a different beast – fitter, stronger and better prepared for an assault on the top four places and glory in the Champions League and FA Cup.

A slow start will soon be forgotten if it is followed by a storming finish and Blues supporters have every reason to believe their club can end the season on a high.

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