Chelsea Season Preview: will they challenge?

With the 2018-19 Premier League season coming up, The Football Lab spoke to Chelsea fan Benjamin Wills (@_BenWills).

The last two years at Chelsea have followed a similar pattern to the previous two: a convincing title win followed by a well below-par league campaign. Are fans grateful for success, or frustrated by the inconsistency?

It is most definitely the latter. I don’t think being grateful for success is in the mindset of Chelsea fans anymore, as snobbish or even arrogant that might seem to someone reading this who doesn’t support one of the elite clubs.

Post-Roman Abramovich investment, Chelsea fans have rightly held the view that this side should be regularly competing for titles and trophies, and not has not changed, even though there is now five or six teams that have that goal, rather than four say a decade ago.

New manager Maurizio Sarri has two obvious principles: firstly, to encourage attractive football and secondly, to develop current players rather than obsess over new ones. Do you think fans will find those ideals refreshing?

There is no doubt that Sarri’s arrival will be gladly met by pretty much everyone. Chelsea have had some brilliant pragmatic managers over the past decade or so, which Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte being the most successful, but I think there is a real sense that Chelsea want to move away from that now, which has been heightened by the success of Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham to a lesser extent in recent seasons.

The sole senior player you’ve signed to date is Jorginho, a Manchester City target, while N’Golo Kante starred for France at the World Cup. Are you keen to see those two in the same midfield?

Jorginho is a great signing. Chelsea’s midfield was one of the weakest aspects of the side last season, N’Golo Kante aside, he was his ever-excellent self. Tiemoue Bakayoko had a really poor debut campaign while it’s clear that the talents of Cesc Fabregas are starting to wane as the Spaniard gets older, while Ross Barkley failed to make an impact following his January arrival, and Danny Drinkwater is and was not Chelsea calibre.

I, and many others, worry that Kante will leave for Barcelona, that will be a tragedy if he does, but if not, then he and Jorginho will make up an excellent two in Chelsea’s three-man midfield next season. The latter has worked with Sarri before and can only be a positive addition, but more need to arrive.

Ross Barkley barely played last season, Cesc Fabregas appeared below-par while it’s hard to see Danny Drinkwater or Tiemoue Bakayoko quite making the grade. Would you like to see Ruben Loftus-Cheek get a chance alongside Jorginho and Kante?

I hope Ruben Loftus-Cheek is among it next season, I wanted him to be a part of first-team affairs last season too, and still can’t get my head around the logic of loaning him out to Crystal Palace and splashing out £35 million on Drinkwater, to be honest. He had a great season at Selhurst Park last season, got himself in the England World Cup squad, and gave a good account of himself in Russia too, there is no reason for him to not be a regular feature in the 18 for the upcoming campaign and beyond. If the Chelsea hierarchy don’t want him involved now, they never will.

The signs are that Thibaut Courtois is going to Real Madrid. With Willy Caballero less than convincing for Argentina at the World Cup and other stoppers out on loan, does the goalkeeper situation worry you?

The goalkeeping situation is only worrying me currently given the names linked to fill Thibaut Courtois’ impending vacancy. I don’t mind Courtois leaving per se, he has been open with the fact his family still live in Madrid and he wants to be closer to them, fair enough.

Willy Caballero is barely good enough to be number two, never mind number one, and I am not happy with the prospect of an over-the-hill Petr Cech or Kasper Schmeichel becoming the club’s number one. AC Milan’s Gigi Donnarumma is also linked and that one is slightly better, but he is still young and more potential than proven at this stage.

Eden Hazard appeared to be carrying you at times last season. If he, too, goes to Real Madrid, will it be important to bring in somebody who can provide those moments of magic?

Absolutely, Eden Hazard is one of, if not the, best player in England currently and if you lose a player of that stature then he needs replacing with someone with equal or greater than ability, but there are not many close to Hazard’s level in world football, so it’s a huge void to fill if and when that time comes.

Willian could be off to Barcelona while Pedro has shown signs of decline. Do you see Kasey Palmer or Charly Musonda getting a look in this year?

I would consider both unlikely, it’s more likely we will spend big on a replacement rather than promoting the youth, because that’s just what Chelsea do. Willian blows hot and cold far too often, however, so him leaving would be much less of an issue than Hazard.

Arguably the only consistently impressive performer last season was Cesar Azpilicueta. How important is he in this time of turbulence?

Cesar Azpilicueta is the constant 8/10 performer that everyone needs. In his early days he was a very capable right-back as Branislav Ivanovic’s time at Stamford Bridge began to wind down, and now ‘Dave’ has become the best centre-back at the club, it’s quite remarkable how a £6.5 million signing from Marseille has become so integral to Chelsea’s defence.

Antonio Rudiger looked decent last season, at least in terms of his ability to carry the ball into the opposing half. How do you assess his debut campaign?

Antonio Rudiger was solid if unspectacular, but I suppose that is all you can really ask for in a defender. He did well enough in a three-man defence, and now it will be interesting to see what happens as Chelsea move to a 4-3-3, given that Juventus’ Daniele Rugani is heavily linked too. Four excellent centre-backs in Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Andreas Christensen, David Luiz as well as potentially Rugani are fighting for two places.

It seems unlikely that Victor Moses would naturally slot into a back-four. Would you welcome another right-back – Sime Vrsaljko has been linked – or do you think Ola Aina could step up?

Victor Moses should have been nothing more than a stop-gap in Chelsea’s 3-4-3 as a wing-back, but to be fair to him he was brilliant in the title-winning season, it just became too much last season. He is evidently not a defender and his crossing is not good enough to be considered a true wing-back, and thus needs to be moved on. I’d be happy with Aina as a back-up, but a new starter is needed, Vrsaljko would be good, and I’d have no complaints with Davide Zappacosta being moved on.

Left-back Marcos Alonso clearly poses a threat from set pieces, but he’s perhaps not the quickest. Do you see Emerson Palmieri getting a chance to offer something different?

Emerson might suit an expansive Sarri side more, and Sarri will know him better from Emerson’s time at Roma in Serie A, but Alonso is the better player and hasn’t done a huge amount wrong, so I’d be ok with the Spaniard keeping his place for the time being.

Michy Batshuayi appears a more reliable finisher than Oliver Giroud, yet it’s the latter who gets more prominent roles. Is that a sign that modern managers now look beyond goal returns when judging strikers?

Michy Batshuayi is another one I’d want as a more regular involvement around the first-team, especially since Alvaro Morata was hardly stellar last season. It will be interesting who gets moved on out of the strikers as Batshuayi and Giroud have both been linked with moves away, Gonzalo Higuain is potentially coming in, and you have to wonder what this all means for Tammy Abraham too.

Blues aside, what are your thoughts ahead of the Premier League season as a whole? How do you assess your competitors?

Manchester City will be pretty much the same, just hopefully less dominant. Liverpool’s acquisitions of Naby Keita, Fabinho and Alisson are exceptional, they should be able to push City a lot even at the moment, but may even usurp them with another centre-back. Chelsea can hopefully give it a go too with a few more signings and not taking the Europa seriously until the latter stages. Manchester United have not done a lot and wouldn’t be surprised if they fell out the top four at the moment, while Arsenal are doing good things but think they’ll take a few years to establish themselves as a proper contender again. Spurs have potential too, just think the other teams around them are doing more to become true top sides.

The Football Lab’s Verdict

Chelsea’s preparations have been suspect, given that Sarri wasn’t appointed until mid-July. Effectively, only Jorginho has been added to a squad that finished 5th last year while Hazard and Courtois could leave for Madrid, leaving Kante and Azpilicueta as the only truly elite players. With domestic rivals strengthening, the Europa League might prove their best avenue back towards the top table. 6th