Chelsea have excessive expectations round them after an outstanding summer time, however no person is kind of certain the place they’ll find yourself this yr. Are they actually title contenders?
As we noticed final yr, they will beat anybody on their day, but additionally have weak durations in video games and in the middle of the season. Watching them is a bit like utilizing your Qbet bonus code to wager on the slots or roulette – a recreation of likelihood.
The opening day summed all of it up. The hype had constructed round Enzo Maresca’s group following a powerful exhibiting on the finish of the season and thru the Membership World Cup, which they ended up profitable.
Excessive power wins in our two pleasant video games towards Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan had many followers and pundits satisfied that the Membership World Cup hangover wasn’t going to be as dangerous as thought.
The brand new signings all seemed nice, Maresca was into his second yr in cost, the harm scenario was principally good, it was a house recreation… it was all lined up for the Blues to make a mark on the brand new season.
However, soccer being soccer, it was a 0-0 draw. A very boring one at that. A reminder that the summer time hype can solely let you know a lot, and that flashy new signings don’t all the time hit the bottom working.
It was additionally a reminder of the standard of the Premier League. “Crystal Palace” doesn’t have the identical cachet as a reputation Milan or Leverkusen, however they’re a very robust aspect with a number of good gamers and a very good supervisor.
That’s true of the vast majority of the Premier League – even the promoted groups look good this yr. There can be only a few straightforward video games, and even fewer video games that are straightforward to foretell.
Chelsea completed 4th final yr and can after all need to enhance on that – however in a yr the place most of the high groups can be higher than final yr, that gained’t be straightforward.
The problem of taking part in within the Champions League reasonably than the Convention League may also change issues majorly. No extra resting eleven gamers in midweek. Some would say that ending fourth with that added problem could be a feat in itself.
It’s a very attention-grabbing marketing campaign in prospect as Chelsea attempt to get again to the highest. Consistency would be the key, and this group, for all its expertise, continues to be very younger: consistency over the course of the entire season could also be simply what they lack.
