Let’s put it on the table from the start, Chelsea have enjoyed a strong opening to the season and have firmly placed themselves in the box seat in the race for the title.
After 11 games played, the Blues have won 8, drawn 2 and lost once – 1-0 to the reigning Premier League (PL) Champions Manchester City.
Further, the supporting statistics are equally impressive – 27 goals scored, only 4 conceded (of which only 1 has been from open play). Bringing this together, Chelsea are nicely placed on top of the ladder, 3 points ahead of Manchester City and surprise bolters West Ham (just quickly, they have been brilliant so far!).
To set the scene, let’s quickly recap on our commencement to this season’s PL campaign results-wise:
- Chelsea 3-0 Crystal Palace (15 Aug)
- Arsenal 0-2 Chelsea (23 Aug)
- Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea (29 Aug)
- Chelsea 3-0 Aston Villa (12 Sep)
- Tottenham 0-3 Chelsea (20 Sep)
- Chelsea 0-1 Manchester City (25 Sep)
- Chelsea 3-1 Southampton (3 Oct)
- Brentford 0-1 Chelsea (17 Oct)
- Chelsea 7-0 Norwich (23 Oct)
- Newcastle 0-3 Chelsea (31 Oct)
- Chelsea 1-1 Burnley (7 Nov)
In looking back to the start of the season, I have been fairly impressed with not just the results achieved, which in some cases have been emphatic, but acknowledging that for substantial portions of games Chelsea have not actually played to their potential. In other words, the Blues have yet to consistently deliver high-quality performances over a 90-minute period this season but have still managed to find a way to get the job done.
This has been attributed to a few factors, namely: our rock-solid defence (including superstar goalkeeper Edouard Mendy) who have been very organised and resilient, the diverse set of goal-scorers across multiple positions, and Tuchel’s ability to be able to rotate (either forced or strategic) and maintain the appropriate balance and quality.
That being said, the unfortunate injuries and illnesses to key players such as Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner, Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante, Mason Mount, Andreas Christensen and Christian Pulisic have tested the robustness of Chelsea’s squad depth. To date, the squad has largely passed the test.
Before quickly examining the frantic set of fixtures during the festive period, it is important to reflect on the past month of performances and understand what worked well for us, and where improvement opportunities exist.
Key Themes (October 2021 / Early November 2021)
The key themes that stood out to me during the month of October and start of November were:
1. Chelsea’s wingbacks have been crucial for Chelsea’s success
Reece James and Ben Chilwell have been in scintillating form. Not only have the pair been astute in their defensive responsibilities, but the energy and dynamism they have brought has added an extra element to the Blues’ attack as their ability to continue their lung-busting runs up and down the flanks opens up space for others.
Then there’s the direct goal contributions the dynamic duo have been adding (which isn’t their primary role). With 4 goals and 4 assists to Reece, and 3 goals chipped in by Ben since his return to the team, these two could be vital to our chances of silverware this season and will certainly be instrumental in the way we attack, particularly against stubborn defences.
2. The defence remains mightily difficult to score against, especially in open play
During October and early November Chelsea conceded 2 goals. One was a penalty against the Saints which was drawn by former Blue and talented prospect Tino Livramento, and the other came from a simple first-time ball over the top of the Blues backline to convert a close-range finish.
While Chelsea continue to prove they are a well-drilled unit, it is also fair to call-out that our superstar goalkeeper Mendy rescued the Blues against Brentford as the Bees threw wave after wave of attack in the final 20 minutes but were thwarted by an inspired Mendy who was determined to not concede.
The amount of top-shelf saves he pulled-off that game will most certainly be on the highlights reel come end of the season. How he did not make the top 30 players for this year’s Ballon D’or will forever remain a mystery.
Overall though, Chelsea’s defence has been something to admire and the way that players seamlessly slot into various positions in the backline is a credit to Tuchel for instilling confidence and understanding of their roles.
3. Rotation has been working although there is a gap between the best and the rest
As previously mentioned, the Blues have been hit by a series of injuries and illnesses to key players across the defensive, middle and predominantly in the forward positions during this period.
While this presented some obvious challenges in the sense that Tuchel has not been able to consistently call upon his preferred XI, it has also opened up opportunities for others in what is (at least on paper) a squad that has quality in depth.
We have been able to see this quality appear throughout the October and early November period as the likes of the resurgent Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Callum Hudson-Odoi have been putting their best feet forward and giving Tuchel some genuine selection headaches. Even Ross Barkley has also added in some positive cameos which has been surprising given he was thought to be a peripheral figure at best.
The key question will be, once the others return, how does he effectively manage all available resources?
Notwithstanding the positives that have arisen as a result of observing some non-regulars that have taken their chances, there have also been those who, putting it bluntly, simply have not. Specifically, the forward areas of the pitch remain a bit of a concern in terms of trying to establish some fluidity and potency as the likes of Hakim Ziyech, and to a lesser extent, Kai Havertz have not been able to fully offset those that would ordinarily occupy the positions they are competing for.
While Kai has versatility and age on his side (i.e. only 22), the former Ajax man is at the peak of his powers experience wise and is expected to be delivering more than he has. Although Hakim scored a tap-in against Malmo (following Callum’s amazing cross), he has unfortunately not been able to generate any goal threats or key chances for his team mates.
Some of this is a function of limited minutes, however some of it is due to him not being able to make the most of those minutes. Time will tell what the future holds for the Moroccan magician but time is fast running out for him to pull a rabbit out of the hat.
Given the above, and factoring the high-volume of games on the horizon which have tended to be the Blues’ Achilles heel, Tuchel will be hoping that his host of regulars will be able to be reintegrated as soon as possible and start contributing to the cause. From all reports, this seems to be on the cards but with Chelsea’s luck in recent times, it is worth crossing multiple fingers and toes!
The road ahead (End of November / December 2021)
What a month or so Chelsea Football Club are about to embark on!
For those with good memory, the December-January period last season provided Blues fans anything but good memories! In fact, following a strong period leading up to the festive season, the wheels started to fall off for the-then Frank Lampard managed Chelsea which sadly spelled the beginning of the end for arguably the club’s greatest ever player (well at least for this Blue).
Fast forwarding to this season, from Saturday through to the end of the calendar year, the Blues will play an astonishing 12 games in total! These are:
- Leicester (Away) on 20 Nov
- Juventus (Home) on 24 Nov – Champions League
- Manchester United (Home) on 29 Nov
- Watford (Away) on 2 Dec
- West Ham (Away) on 4 Dec
- Zenit (Away) on 9 Dec – Champions League
- Leeds (Home) on 12 Dec
- Everton (Home) on 17 Dec
- Wolves (Away) on 20 Dec
- Brentford (Away) on 23 Dec – Carabao Cup Quarter-Final
- Aston Villa (Away) on 27 Dec
- Brighton (Home) on 30 Dec
As is outlined above, the Blues will have to navigate through some bumpy waters during the festive season in order to avoid crashing into some rocks and thus prevent a sinking ship!
While it’s obvious Tuchel will need his troops to come back from the international break with full focus and intensity to kick-start their next block of games with good momentum, keeping his squad fresh will be key to manage the heightened risk of fatigue, injury and complacency.
With that in mind, it will be important for Thomas to not only think about the tactics for each game that’s approaching, but also to have the medium-long term view in his planning i.e. which players are best suited for certain opposition, which players need closer monitoring and load balancing, vs those who are safer to use for a consecutive run of games etc.
In the League, the Blues play 9 times before year end and will want to not only preserve their lead at the top of the summit, but hopefully extend on it heading in 2022, That said, Chelsea are currently second in the group in the Champions League and have a crunch clash with Italian giants Juventus in between our next-up opponents Leicester and the out-of-form, yet highly dangerous on their day – Manchester United.
Should we survive the challenging end of November run, the December set of fixtures have some reasonably favourable fixtures, however there are a couple of danger matches embedded e.g. West Ham and Wolves away, as well as the new-look Villa under Steven Gerrard away, before rounding out the year with a tricky proposition against an over-performing Brighton at home. Amongst all of this is a quarter-final clash against the Bees who have shown that they are more than capable of stinging us if we are not careful!
In the end, it’s been another successful month for Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea. Notwithstanding the positive momentum generated so far, the next 12 matches could be crucial in helping solidify the Blues’ title charge. Conversely, a dip in form and drop in points could not only dampen the squad’s confidence, but also allow their rivals to close the gap or even leapfrog them as we head in to the new calendar year.
Ultimately time will tell if the historically difficult December period will again rear its ugly head, or, as we’re all hoping, Chelsea will pass this test with flying colours!
Come on you Blues! 
Twitter: @RJ_Goodthings
