Review of Chelsea's season: Top 4 and Champions of Europe

 

Chelsea-Champions of Europe.Copyright Franceinfo



Good afternoon everyone

I hope you are all well and having a good start to week. Sorry for the huge delay. It has been a busy couple of weeks and I had the cold so I was unwell for almost week.

Now that the football season has ended, lets take a chance to look at the season as a whole and focus on each position and the manager or in this case managers as Chelsea finished 4th to qualify for the Champions League in dramatic fashion and won the UCL on Saturday night against Man City. A Kai Havertz goal secured the trophy with big ears for the London side.

Goalkeepers

When I wrote my end of season review last year I was quite harsh on Kepa as he had a poor campaign as the number 1 and I did mention that this position needed strengthening. Thankfully Chelsea were able to secure the signing of Edouard Mendy from Rennes for £22 million/€24 million  and what a player he has been. The number of saves he made in the matches he played proved pivotal (16 clean sheets in the EPL and 9 in the Champions League) just shows how much confidence he gave the Chelsea defence this year. For me one of 3 players of the year for Chelsea. Bravo Edouard.

Rating: 10/10

Edouard Mendy.Copyright Eurosport








Defence

Another weak position for Chelsea last year due to lack of experience especially at centre back, they spent €55 million on England left back Ben Chilwell from Leicester City, Thiago Silva on a free from PSG and my my how good have they been since Tuchel arrived? The left back position had also been an issue for some years but now looks secure with Chilwell and Marcos Alonso as well as Emerson playing important roles as Chelsea chased the top 4 and European glory. At the beginning of the season the defence was compsoed of Cesar Azpilicueta-Thiago Silva-Kurt Zouma- Chilwell but with the arrival of Thomas Tuchel at the end of January, he switched to a back 3 and Chelsea have been solid ever since with the trio of Azpilicueta-Rudiger-Silva or at times Christiansen. Now the big question is who will Chelsea sign to replace Silva once the 2021-22 season ends? He is getting on with age and needs to be managed carefully as done so far by Tuchel.The right back position is well secure with Reece James playing exceptionally well this season. The England international has all the tools necesssary(height and speed) and is definitely going to be important for Chelsea in the next decade.He's a strong wing back who can also play right centre back to counter quick forwards like Vardy but I dont think thats his strongest position. As Captain fantastic Azpilicueta reaches the twilight of his career , its safe to say that his successor has already been found. All in all well done to all the defenders who contributed to a strong end to the season.Hopefully we get to see more of Fikayo Tomori next season but AC Milan want to sign him for €25 million after impressing on loan. It would be a pity to see him go.

Rating: 9.5/10

Midfield

Now this position definitely had the least issues this year as Mason Mount,Ngolo Kanté, Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic were exceptional throughout the campaign. Its crazy to think that the French World Cup winner was almsot sold in the summer. After overcoming his injuries he has been world class whenever he has played. The way he protects the backline and runs from one end of the field to the other is just so impressive. The UCL semi-final against Real Madrid is a good example and the final as well. He's definitely a contender for Ballon D'or this year. If Mason Mount wasnt voted player of the year the award would definitely go to Kanté. Long may it continue. Jorginho was Chelsea's top goal scorer in the EPL with 7 goals(all penalties) but without Kanté to protect him was often outpaced and exposed in midfield. This has been an issue for some years and hopefully next season he will get more help even when Kanté isnt available. With Kovacic available as well as Billy Gilmour I'd say the midfield is good  for at least another decade.Well done gentlemen.

Rating: 9/10

Attack

So where do I begin? Despite investing over €200 in forwards, they did not score many goals this year. Perhaps we can be lenient as Ziyech and Pulisic were injured for some games throughout therefore were inconsistent while Werner and Havertz were playing their first season in the EPL. The only player that can lift his hands up is Mason Mount. The England international has looked fantastic whenever he played ,whether its scoring or assisting and is deservedly Chelsea's player of the year. He works hard for the team and uses th ball very well. Kai Havertz was Chelsea'a record signing at €75 million but had a start-stop season with injuries and Covid. Nevertheless he has looked good since Tuchel arrived and he did score the winning goal on saturday so all is forgiven and more will come from him next season.Timo Werner's numbers might have been terrible (12 goals in all competitions) but the way Tuchel turned him into a wide left player so as to stretch defences has been a masterclass. His assist led to the winning goal on saturday and this could help him to kick on next season. Olivier Giroud has been a great servant to the club with his profesionalism and his 11 goals in all competitions but this is probably the end of the road for him as he hasnt played as much since February due to not fitting Tuchel's syste. I do hope he stays next year but thats very unlikely. If he does go then he'll leave a legend. Another player I feel sorry for is Tammy Abraham,who also scored 12 goals in all competitions but has been discarded by Tuchel. Being injured definitely didnt help his case therefore missing out on the Euros. Thankfully he's young and can still make up for lost time. The question is will he still be a Chelsea player next year? Its hard to say. Hopefully he'll stay but it will depend on the manager. Finally I do hope to see more from Hudson-Odoi and Ziyech next year. They'll need to stay fit more often.Overall a decent effort from the forwards. Just need to be more clinical next season.

Rating: 7/10


Chelsea attack. Copyright Daily Mail












Managers

Now this is where it gets interesting. The campaign began with Frank Lampard at the helm who started quite well but between december and january saw his side lose games and drop to as low as 9th place. His downfall was not being tactically flexible and castigating players such as Rudiger and  Marcos Alonso. His other issue was not being able to fit all the new signings in the same starting 11.The final straw was losing 1-3 at home to Man City in January. To summarise the first part of the season: a complete train wreck. Nevertheless he did impress in the Champions League as the Blues cruised through the group stages with only 1 draw, thus setting the foundation for a successful European campaign. Thank you Super Frankie. You'll forever be considered a Chelsea legend.

Rating: 6/10
Frank Lampard; Copyright Goal.com













Und jetzt Thomas Tuchel. When he arrived at Chelsea in january they were languishing in 9th and looked certain to miss out on Europe entirely. The way he transformed the team despite spending less than 24 hours with the players by ditching the 4-3-3 and returning to the 3-4-2-1 was incredible. This new found solidity made them difficult to break and he even managed to beat top managers such as Klopp, Guardiola, Simeone, Ancelotti, Mourinho and Zidane shows just how tactically strong he is.Another positive was getting the best out of Werner,Havertz, Rudiger,Marcos Alonso, Kanté and Christiansen. Some of these players had been struggling for form or were cast aside by Lampard and have been rewarded by the German gaffer. Yes they were hiccups such as losing to West Brom, Aston Villa and Arsenal in the league as well as the FA Cup final against Leicester City but the icing on the cake was winning the Champions League on Saturday. After losing last year's final he was more than determined to make up for the defeat and win the trophy at long last. PSG must be regretting it now. Next season is looking promising and if he gets the players he needs, he can definitely compete for the title with Man City. To him I say congratulations and thank you for transforming Chelsea.He becomes the 3rd German coach to win the UCL after losing the final the previous year after Klopp and Heynekes.So he's in good company
Thomas Tuchel. Copyright Le Monde



Overall this season has had its ups and downs but the arrival of Tuchel in Jaunary transformed the team from almost missing out on Europe to eventually winning the Champions League. So on that note I say well done Chelsea. Blue is the colour and London is blue.Bring on next season.

 

Rating of season:9.5/10

Thank you very much for reading my articles throughout the year. You have all been very supportive and wonderful readers. This is the last article till August when the season resumes. With The Euros coming June 11 I'm more likely to do a podcast with a good friend of mine Jesse but all shall berevealed in the coming weeks so do check my social media page.

Till then take care, enjoy the Summer (or Winter) and lets keep talking about football. 

Ciao


In case you missed the celebrations here is a video.Enjoy

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