There is no getting away from the fact that Chelsea’s start to the season has been less than stellar. So far, a win, a draw, and a loss has left the team in twelfth place in the Premier League. The question is, what will happen for the rest of the season?
We spoke to a journalist from Just Gamblers who said,
“It’s not been a great start for Chelsea but it’s still early days and many big name clubs are struggling. You only need to look at Liverpool as an example of this. The truth is that there is plenty of time to secure a top four place. But, in order to make this happen, the team needs to start scoring more goals. Chelsea had problems in this area last season, but Stirling could make a big difference if he played in the right way.”
It remains to be seen whether Stirling’s addition to the squad will resolve scoring issues that seem to be continuing from last season.
Problems with scoring continue
If the claims are true, Chelsea were keen to secure the services of Robert Lewandowski to help address problems with a lack of fire power. They failed to do so. While not signing such a high profile guaranteed goal scorer is disappointing, the club did manage to secure the services of Raheem Stirling following his move from Manchester City.
It’s hoped that he will help the club improve on last season’s goal scoring record when only three players managed to score more than three goals.
Whether this happens may depend on whether Stirling is played as a traditional winger or a wide attacking goal poacher. It may also depend on how consistently he performs. His tendency to be wasteful on occasion was one reason why the fans were never really fully on his side at Manchester City. That being said, he was always a dangerous player during his time at the Etihad Stadium. Hopefully, he will bring his skills to the Chelsea team and leave his inconsistency behind.
Has there been sufficient transfer window action?
The signings of Stirling and centre back Koulibaly are both excellent business for Chelsea. But there may be a need for further transfer action to strengthen the team especially with Marcos Alonso and Cesar Azpilicueta allegedly both keen on moving to Barcelona.
One interesting development that has recently come to light is the potential signing of 21-year-old defender Wesley Fofana from Leicester. Although, the Foxes have already turned down an offer of around £70 million from Chelsea and time is running out for the signing to happen.
Assuming that no further action takes place during this transfer window, Chelsea will need to make an impact on the Premier League with the players who are already in the squad. So, what is likely to happen if this is the case?
The remainder of the season in the short and long term
The short term success or failure of Chelsea will tell us a lot about the strength of the team and the club and whether they have a chance of securing a top four place.
Chelsea’s next game is against Leicester at home on 27 August 2022. The Foxes are in the bottom three and struggling so it’s a good chance for The Blues to gain a valuable three points.
The three games that follow are away against Southampton on 30 August 2022, home against West Ham on 4 September 2022, and away against Fulham on 7 September. Based on current form, a victory against bottom place West Ham seems likely. If Chelsea manage to get at least four points from the six on offer in the other two, much harder, games this suggests that they may just have the strength to compete for a top four position.
However, it’s early days and we will probably need to wait until after Christmas to see just how realistic finishing this high in the Premier League actually is.
