Season Preview: Chelsea looking to bounce off of European glory

Chelsea will be keen to build upon their Champions League success last season as they work their way towards another Premier League title charge.

After a poor run over the festive period and the sacking of club legend Frank Lampard in January, the Blues appeared lost and disjointed ahead of the rest of the season. However, Thomas Tuchel’s arrival at the club sparked a revival within the squad which eventually saw them win their second Champions League title.

The SW6 side have looked dominant, efficient and ruthless since the German manager took over, with a new formation proving to be highly effective against most of their opposition.

Although their European success last season was mightily impressive and Tuchel has been able to implement a so far, so good tactical philosophy within his side, it is now time they push on and battle against tough opposition for their next Premier League title.

Manager

Tuchel has most notably worked at Borussia Dortmund and PSG in recent years, and made the move to Chelsea at the start of 2021 following Lampard’s dismissal.

He very quickly revitalised a dejected squad who, despite clearly having the quality, were unable to effectively work together and produce results that were deemed adequate by the club’s hierarchy.

The use of the 3-4-3/5-2-3 formation has been one of Tuchel’s biggest achievements at his time at the club so far as the team are now able to constantly press the opposition and implement their system through the strengths that they possess on the wide areas of the pitch, both in defence and attack.

Due to the impressive depth that the Chelsea squad boasts, Tuchel is also not afraid to make any selection changes that he believes are necessary. In particular, the attacking options at his disposal are ones that any top manager would dream of having and in his short time at the Blues, his choices have been highly effective.

He was rewarded with a contract extension shortly after the Champions League final in May, signing until 2024.

Transfers

The Blues have only made one first-team signing this summer although at the time of writing this, Romelu Lukaku is very close to being announced as a Chelsea player once again.

Marcus Bettinelli has joined the club on a free transfer to provide backup to Edouard Mendy and Kepa Arrizabalaga. The former Fulham man spent the last season on loan at Middlesborough and was also called up to the England squad in September 2018.

Most of the club’s transfer activity has come through departures.

Fikayo Tomori has been the most notable player to leave, joining AC Milan after a highly impressive loan spell there in the second half of the previous campaign.

The Chelsea academy product has also been joined at I Rossoneri by Olivier Giroud, with the French international departing after a highly successful three-and-a-half years at the club.

As well as this, Billy Gilmour and Conor Gallagher have joined Norwich and Crystal Palace respectively on season-long loans in the hope that first-team football at the top level can develop them even further.

Targets

The main aim for this season is to challenge for the Premier League title, something which the Blues haven’t won since 2017 under Antonio Conte.

Only third place finishes have been the closest the Blues have got to even competing in the race.

With Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United all strengthening in the summer transfer window, it comes as no surprise that this year’s title battle could be incredibly close.

Chelsea could also be looking for redemption in the FA Cup in which they have been in the last two finals and lost on both occasions.

A third Champions League title would of course be more than welcome amongst Blues fans, and the unpredictably of the club football’s toughest competition means anything could happen.

Key Player

One man who could be incredibly influential in this Chelsea team is Kai Havertz.

To many fans, he is already a club legend after his goal in the European final against City in Porto, and the 22-year-old will be looking to have an ever better season this time around.

Arriving as the club’s most expensive transfer last summer undoubtedly put pressure on the young German and after suffering from COVID-19 early on in the season, he didn’t have the best of starts to life in Blue.

However the latter stages of the last season saw him really come to life, providing goals and assists in crucial games as the Blues headed towards glory.

If Tuchel can still get the best out of Havertz, then Chelsea have a real diamond in their side this season.

Youth Prospect

Callum Hudson-Odoi has been in and around the first team picture for some time now.

After making his debut for the club at the start of 2018, it was clear to see how much talent the youngster has.

He can play on either the left or right wing, utilising his pace and power to get past his opponents, with Tuchel sometimes preferring to play the 20-year-old in the RWB position.

Hudson-Odoi has slowly but surely been making more appearances each season and despite being linked with a move to Bayern Munich in previous transfer windows, it appears as though he is happy to remain at the club and fight for a place in this star-studded team.

After an impressive pre-season in recent weeks, he will certainly have given his boss food for thought ahead of the new campaign.

Chelsea play Villarreal in the UEFA Super Cup in Belfast this evening, with kick-0ff at 20:00.

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