Chelsea is a worldwide brand which gains new supporters all the time.
That’s why there’s such a demand for a big new stadium – it only gets harder for fans to come and see their team in action at Stamford Bridge. And that problem will only grow worse as the number of Blues worldwide grows.
Of course you want to buy Chelsea FC tickets safely, but even then you’re running out of time if you want to see them this season. They have only two games left – but they’re both crackers.
We can’t remember the last time the final two fixtures of the season had so much riding on them, and we can’t wait to see how the team cope with the pressure.
Up first is the 38th game of the Premier League season. Manager Enzo Maresca might deny it, and in fact he has done for months, but this one 90 minute match in the distillation of all the preceding 37. Win and we’re into the Champions League next season. All the ups and downs of the last 9 months were worth it.
Lose and it will all feel a complete waste of time – and it will be a terrible look for the coach, given we were a point off the top of the table at the turn of the year.
The result in that game inevitably then have a serious impact on the mood for the final match of the season against Real Betis in the Conference League final.
We’ll be desperate to win either way, of course, but a trophy there will feel rather hollow if we’ve just blown our Champions League chances a few days before. It will be a tin-pot consolation prize that almost rubs in the fact we’ll miss out on the top table again next year. It could be very hard to motivate the players for that if they’ve just lost the biggest game of the year. The fact that a trophy is on the line might not be enough to get them up for it.
Beat Forest, however, and the reverse is true. We then surge into that game on a high, with not much to lose. Lifting that trophy then becomes a tasty cherry on top of a successful season, a physical manifestation and celebration of completing our league objectives.
Either way, the dynamic between the two is fascinating, and we’d love to be a fly on the wall at Cobham this week.
This group have shown plenty of heart at times this season, and that was really on display last Friday in the game against Manchester United. Ruben Amorim’s team came to town to make things difficult, and with both Jadon Sancho and Nicolas Jackson unavailable, it was always going to be a slog.
But in those moments, two players who have been important leaders on and off the field stepped up – captain Reece James showed his importance by dropping a tasty spin on the edge of the box and standing up a measured ball to Marc Cucurella, who showed his own importance in these clutch moments by scoring yet another match winning goal.
In moments like this, we see the team developing and showing maturity in a way we’ve been desperate to see more of.
On the other hand, there’s no denying that a young and inexperienced group have shown their weaknesses at times too. Blowing such a comfortable cushion of points since Christmas is a sure sign of that.
There have been far too many games where a minor setback throws everyone off. For all the quality in the team, there can be a lack of vocal leadership to put everyone back on the right track when something goes wrong. The fans have seen it so often that their anxiety grows the moment we concede – or sometimes even before that. Some nervy play at the back is often enough to get the crowd grumbling, that then feeds into the players, and a negative spiral begins.
James has improved in showing more outspoken leadership, and others like Enzo Fernandez are showing more and more of what we like – but for fans who grew up with a really solid spine, it’s still a step down from the likes of John Terry, Petr Cech, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba.
All of this is why it’s so important that we start well against Forest, and try to keep that momentum going through that game and then through the final in Poland. We’re a fragile bunch, but one with the potential to do really well if we start on the right foot.
