It’s difficult to say what’s more, well, difficult: assessing this year’s Chelsea squad and its expectations of success, or summarizing what last year’s results meant.
Chelsea is three months removed from finally winning the trophy owner Roman Abramovich so desperately craved, the Champions League. They also won yet another FA Cup title, their fourth in the past six seasons, and yet the stench of finishing sixth in the Premier League still lingers — it was the club’s lowest finish since 2001-02, long before Abramovich pulled up his horse-drawn carriage of cash outside Stamford Bridge.
In addition, the spectre of interference from above, and a lack of leadership amongst its key players cost, by all accounts, a remarkably bright young manager his livelihood soon after it began. Andre Villas-Boas lasted 40 matches in total, but won less than half of them, and amidst complaints of both a tactical nature, and a stand-offish presence among the core leaders (Frank Lampard, John Terry, Ashley Cole) he was doomed even in the early going last fall.
Villas-Boas could hardly get settled after the first two matches of the season, a draw against Stoke, and then a lucky come-from-behind win over West Brom in Chelsea’s home opener. Giving up five goals at home to Arsenal in October, followed by a four-game winless skid before and after Boxing Day, sealed the fate of yet another gaffer. It also led to the latest former Chelsea crowd favourite, Roberto Di Matteo, being the seventh man in less than five calendar years to follow in Jose Mourinho’s footsteps.
But again, what is Chelsea 2012-13? They will attempt L.A.D. (Life After Drogba), as after eight remarkably enigmatic seasons Didier Drogba has moved on. It seemed a quite mutual parting of the ways. Drogba was inconsistent at times, but he leaves Stamford Bridge as Chelsea’s fourth all-time leading goal scorer, and most remarkably, their greatest performer ever in European competition, (34 goals in the Champions League). Only Frank Lampard is close, and not very, with 23 goals, and a large chunk of those were from penalty kicks.
So now the heat is on one Fernando Torres, and it should be. Showing mild signs of life late last season, he still wasn’t someone either Villas-Boas, or ultimately Di Matteo felt could be trusted in big moments. Unless the bulk of opportunities are to go to Daniel Sturridge up front this season, Torres will finally, 20 months after being acquired from Liverpool, have to earn his keep.
Though Chelsea fans have been moderately disapproving of Torres, they probably held back because they knew they always had Drogba, Nicolas Anelka, and the promising Salamon Kalou, who has departed for Lille. It’s now firmly on Torres, and as he watches Wayne Rooney at Manchester United get a new dance partner in Robin van Persie, maybe the most clinical finisher in all of Europe, the Spaniard may feel the loneliness of being expected to do a lot of it himself.
As for Chelsea’s midfield, it’s truly an embarrassment of riches, but will some of the gems lose their shine? Frank Lampard is 34, and is in great a danger of simply not being involved in the critical matches for this club in the Premier League and the Champions League when the calendar turns to 2013. Michael Essien, 29, is as naturally gifted as any Chelsea player in the last decade, but injuries have ravaged his body. Essien only saw action in fourteen Premiership matches last season, and only three times in Europe.
But those are the midfield question-marks. You can easily make the case their midfield is deeper than any other club in the Premier League with the exciting additions of Oscar and Eden Hazard, and the continuing development of Juan Mata and Mikel Jon Obi.
Regardless of where you weigh in on the despicable accusations (new or old, really) against captain John Terry, he needs to put the ugliness behind him, and seemed to do that at Euro 2012, where with the possible exception of Joleon Lescott, he was England’s best defender. Yes, his best days are clearly behind him, and I’d argue it was easier to play well in four matches at the Euros than handle the absolute grind of the Premiership schedule. Di Matteo will have to not just manage Terry’s minutes in a match, but the number of matches he plays.
All in all, other familiar faces are back, such as Petr Cech, Ashley Cole, even Paulo Ferreira, who came to Chelsea in the same summer (2004) as Arjen Robben, Ricardo Carvalho, Didier Drogba, Cech arrived and (gulp!) Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Marcel Desailly departed.
It’ll be fascinating to see Chelsea play out the season. Nobody is tipping them for the title, or even to compete in the race, and they’re 10-1 underdogs to repeat as Champions League winners.
Will Di Matteo truly be left alone, given the autonomy that several before him craved, a few deserved, and practically none got? Is there magic left in the boots of Lampard? Can his diminishing skills be masked by the remarkable talents of the stars in their early 20s he’ll be surrounded by and challenged for playing time in midfield? And can the previous holders of “richest kids on the block” tackle Manchester City in the title race, or at least make them sweat it out under the warming sun of April, in case Manchester United cannot?
All in due time, but after finally getting his hands on the Champions League trophy, maybe Abramovich will let Di Matteo make some mistakes, grow into the job, and not be forced to manage to save his gig, instead of simply focusing on results and improvement and chemistry.