Whilst the 30+ year Premier League era is increasingly becoming defined by Manchester United and Manchester City, the role Chelsea have played in the development and growth of the league has been exponential.
The perennial nearly men until the early 2000’s, where Roman Abramovich debunked the footballing myth that you can’t buy success, ploughing plenty of questionable Russian wonga into a project that had never really been seen before.
With the vibrant and innovative Jose Mourinho at the helm, Chelsea won their first Premier League title in 2004, backed it up in 2005 and continued to operate at the very sharp end of English soccer for the subsequent decade.
The Mourinho ship inevitably crashed and burned, with Carlo Ancelotti overseeing another Premier League title win in 2009, club legend Roberto Di Matteo jumped on board to pinch the Champions League in 2012 and Mourinho came back for another taste of Premier League title success in 2015.
Domestic cups kept rolling in too, with Antonio Conte getting on board the Chelsea bandwagon to clinch a 5th Premier League title in 2017 and Thomas Tuchel joined the party in 2021, winning the 2nd Champions League title in the club’s history.
However, for all the success Chelsea have enjoyed in the Premier League years, over the past few seasons there has been an air of disappointment and sadness surrounding Chelsea, who simply are not dining at the top table currently.
Yet, the 2023/24 season does look to have a semblance of positivity about it, with Mauricio Pochettino at the helm and Chelsea fans are starting to believe that they could be on the cusp of a return to happier times.
Back from the brink
The 2022/23 season was one of the worst campaigns in Chelsea’s recent history. Champions League winning coach Thomas Tuchel was given the boot in the Autumn, replaced by enigmatic tinkerer Graham Potter – who was acquired for big money from Brighton.
However, Potter couldn’t wave his wand sufficiently and was also relived of his duties in the Spring, with club legend Frank Lampard returning for a second stint as manager at the club, with both tenures transpiring to be as disastrous as each other. Chelsea finished the season in 12th place, knocked out of both domestic cups by Manchester City and beaten up in the Champions League.
Whilst the on-field performances inevitably caused plenty of concern amongst the Chelsea faithful, perhaps more worrying was their plight in the board room, which was well documented the world over.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine saw Roman Abramovich pull his money out of Chelsea, a potentially catastrophic manoeuvre. Yet cash-laden American Todd Boehly was happy to step into the void, splashing the cash handsomely but for all the players Chelsea bought over the past 12 to 18 months, very few looked to fit the current needs of the teams on the pitch.
With Manchester City continually pushing the form under manager Pep Guardiola in the Premier League and the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Newcastle United all closing the gap, very few bookmakers saw Chelsea as a viable punt to achieve too much in domestically this season.
Chelsea are currently 500/1 with Unibet Sportsbook to win the 2023/24 Premier League title, epitomising their plight as one of the front runners in English football.
Big money buys
As mentioned, Chelsea’s lack of success on the pitch cannot be attributed to a lack of spending, with the blues having forked out over £1 billion in transfer fees over the past 5 years.
The acquisitions of Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo both broke the British transfer records, within 6 months of each other and neither player has really managed to get to grips with life at Stamford Bridge just yet.
Defensively, it is the 39-year old free agent Thiago Silva who is holding proceedings together, rather than the likes of Marc Cucurella, Wesley Fofana and Ben Chilwell, who are all frequently injured and unavailable for first team action – despite costing the club over £50 million apiece.
Perhaps the biggest problems Chelsea face however are in forward areas, with goals having always been a problem at Stamford Bridge. Even back in the days of Hernan Crespo, Andriy Shevchenko and Fernando Torres, big-name strikers have always felt cursed at Stamford Bridge, with Nicholas Jackson and the injured Christopher Nkunku the latest to prove their worth.
Turning the corner?
However, for all the doom and gloom surrounding Chelsea, there is a sense that Mauricio Pochettino is starting to turn the tide. A thumping 4-1 win over Tottenham, as well as home draws with Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City have Chelsea fans believing that they could well be a side on the up.
Question marks still remain from the Abramovich era, and they could stoop lower before rising up again but with the likes of Raheem Sterling, Cole Palmer and Conor Gallagher giving their all for the team, it may not be long before Chelsea are back fighting at the top of the Premier League once more.