Chelsea's Title Chances

If Manchester City are title favorites, Chelsea aren’t far behind at all.  With Thibault Courtois returning to his parent club and the arrivals of Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas, Felipe Luis, and Kurt Zouma, Chelsea look very strong going into the season.  The only major loss was David Luiz, but as I made clear, that may have been the sale of the decade by Jose Mourinho.  

I have already said how impressed I am with Mourinho’s transfer dealings thus far.  The latest news from Stamford Bridge however, is that Andre Schurrle could be on his way out for a whopping 30 million pounds.  I’m not inclined to believe these rumors to be true, but 30 million pounds for Schurrle would be an excellent sale for the East Londoners.  Schurrle is a fantastic player, but he is not worth 30 million pounds in this market.  

As a supporter of a rival club, it’s hard to complain about Chelsea’s dealings this summer because of the sale of Luiz and possible sale of Schurrle.  FIFA is finally cracking down on financial fair play restrictions, and Chelsea are doing themselves some favors in sending big names out of the club while newer big names come in (keep in mind they sold Juan Mata in January too).  

For Chelsea to win the title however, they must open up their game and find the keys to the bus that has been parked in front of their goal for close to a year now.  On occasion we saw Chelsea dismantle an opponent offensively, but for the most part Jose Mourinho adopted a defensive tactical approach.  Liverpool and Manchester City alike were more willing to roll the dice tactically, sending more players forward while risking giving up a sudden counter attack.  

Sure, it didn’t work out well for Liverpool, but it sure did for Manchester City.  With Nemanja Matic patrolling the defensive midfield, I don’t see any reason for Mourinho to use these same methods this season.  Matic is the prototypical defensive midfielder for the premier league, and for me was the signing of the January window.  Thus, I expect Chelsea to have a higher goal output than last season.  

The tactics that Jose Mourinho employed last season may work to challenge for a title, but I would argue that if he let his players play a little more, especially in the big games, they would have a much better chance of winning in my book.  Chelsea are way, way too talented to be parking the bus in every big game, with the likes of Willian, Hazard, Oscar, Schurrle, and now Diego Costa in the attack, and a very strong midfield to back them up.  

One area of concern for Chelsea is the age of defenders.  Currently, Chelsea’s first three choices at center back are most likely John Terry, Gary Cahill, and the versatile Branislav Ivanovic.  Terry is 33, while Ivanovic is now on the wrong side of 30.  I believe Kurt Zouma to be a future star in this league, but not this season.  Thus, this aging back line must rotate effectively in order to maintain fitness throughout the season.  I expect Chelsea to challenge for the title, and ultimately finish second.