Chelsea News

It has been a busy week for football, with FIFA seemingly lurching into their largest crisis in recent memory. However the usual rumours regarding Chelsea are still bubbling over quite nicely, despite Jose Mourinho stressing the desire to avoid spending large sums in the summer, something that young stars, such as Ruben Loftus-Cheek, will be hoping is true.

Petr Cech to Arsenal (SKYSPORTS)

Petr Cech is reportedly free to speak with any interested clubs, according to his agent, Victor Kolar. Having lost his starting berth to the young Courtois, Cech is keen to move on in order to gain regular playing time.

FamousCFC.com Chelsea Transfer Rumour Analysis – Sometimes it can seem rumours are plucked out of thin air, this one however, appears an absolute certain. There are realistically only three or four keepers who are better than the Chelsea legend, it’s just a shame for him that one of them is Thibaut Courtois, who has had an imperious debut season. Cech’s departure seems nailed on to happen before the start of the season, with the most likely destination being either Arsenal or PSG. Manchester United may also emerge as contenders should David De Gea move on.

No Chelsea fan would begrudge him a move, even to a Premier League rival, after standing between the sticks for the clubs most successful decade in our history. And indeed, after his penalty heroics on “That night in Munich”, he has license to do whatever he pleases.

Antoine Griezmann to Chelsea (Talksport)

Chelsea look set to continue last seasons plunder of Atletico Madrid by signing the French winger Antoine Griezmann. The Frenchman has a hefty release clause of �46.3 million, meaning this deal would represent the vast majority of our transfer budget.

FamousCFC.com Chelsea Transfer Rumour Analysis – The right side of midfield has been primarily occupied by the industrial Willian for the past two seasons, however, there is a general sense that the Brazilian doesn’t offer enough in the final third, scoring only two goals in the Premier League this season. Antoine Griezmann on the other hand has scored an impressive 22, in Liga BBVA this campaign, the third highest in the league (No points for guessing the top two).

This rumour has been around for a while now, and given that Abramovich has made a habit of writing cheques to the coffers of the Calderon, it seems fairly plausible. However, given the hefty price tag, and the consensus that Juan Cuadrado should be given more time to make his mark on the right side, this could be one for the January transfer window.

Christian Benteke to Chelsea (Talksport)

The Belgian born striker has been rejuvenated under Tim Sherwood at the latter end of this season, helping Aston Villa to a rare FA cup final, and Premier League survival. A reported �32.5 million release clause has caught the attention of the Blues.

FamousCFC.com Chelsea Transfer Rumour Analysis – With Drogba set to leave the club after helping us to the league title, Chelsea will undoubtedly have to bolster our striking options once again. Whilst many fans will be hoping that young stars such as Patrick Bamford, and Dominic Solanke could be drafted in to the first team, Benteke would bring undoubted quality into the squad.

Benteke is very much a “Mourinho player”. Strong, good in the air, the Belgian striker would suit Chelsea very nicely, particularly given the current friendship the countrymen share.

The season is not over but with nothing else left to win the Chelsea 2015/2016 planning starts now.

This summer is going to be interesting, mainly because the other teams in the league are going to buy in order to strengthen. Manchester City might need a serious overhaul and new manager, and Arsenal…will probably just buy more attacking players instead of what they actually need. The wild card is Manchester United, who might pose a threat under Louis Van Gaal next season if he can get the right players to balance his squad and fill the holes.

Chelsea however will see changes too. First, and most tragic, is Petr Cech leaving. I was hoping Cech would retire here, but he is a top 3 keeper, and so is Courtois. That situation can’t stay the same forever, and one of them has to leave. As much as I hate to say it, the team has to look to the future, and Courtois is young enough to be part of that future, Cech is not. He wants to play for a top team, and this summer will have plenty of offers. I will be sad to see him go however.

As I mentioned earlier in the post, we need some better cover for the center midfield and attacking midfield positions, so that suspensions and injuries don’t disrupt the team in the way they did this season. This need not be a massive influx of players, maybe one signing in each position should suffice, and then bring in several young players. Ruben Loftus-Cheek would actually be sufficient if Mikel doesn’t leave this summer, though I suspect the Nigerian might be on his way out.

He will also be missed, and he was always one of my favourite players at the club.

I’m curious as to whether or not Drogba will stay as a player. He provided some massive goals this season, but everyone could see that his age was finally catching up to him, and he didn’t have the legs to threaten as he once used to. I wonder if Patrick Bamford is brought in next season to provide a third option, or if Drogba will continue to play for one more season as third choice.

But I am glad him and Remy were brought in, because they scored massive goals when Costa was gone, and deputized ably.

Next season Chelsea 2015/2016, I would like to Chelsea retain the league title, and also win at least one of the domestic cups again. A league and cup double is always so satisfying. I also expect them to move further into the Champions League next season, ideally to win it. The squad we have is excellent now, and with some more depth, means we can rest big players to keep them fresh for the big CL games. I think this squad can handle the big guns next season, be it Madrid, Barca or Bayern, and there is no excuse for at least not making it to the semi finals.

People have drawn comparisons between this Chelsea squad and Mourinho’s first Chelsea squad, and there are some: A physical, dynamic center forward, a hit squad of pacy, intelligent and dynamic attacking midfielders, a gigantic midfield enforcer, a settled back 4, and a young keeper who is also one of the top 3 in the world right now.

However the similarities end there.

Chelsea 2014/2015 Squad Dynamics

Mourinho’s first Chelsea squad was essentially a bludgeon, a war hammer, that could just grind teams down and wear them out. It wasn’t pretty, but it was consistent, and it got results. No team could outfight Chelsea, outlast them, outjump them, or outrun them. It relied on raw power to defend and attack. This Chelsea side rely more on speed, trickery and fluid interchange of positions when attacking, and high-intensity pressing at pace in defense – the scalpel as opposed to the hammer.

While the current version may not be as defensively ruthless as the first Mourinho Chelsea side, it is still menacing, just in its own way. This season so far, Chelsea has kept 17 clean sheets, and conceded 27 goals, the fewest in the league. In attack, they are the second highest scoring team, with only Manchester City ahead of them in that regard. And they accomplished this while only using 22 players, the fewest of any team in the premier league.

Mourinho doesn’t rotate or change often, and once he has a settled side, he sticks with it. But here too lies the problem this season, that perhaps this squad burned out, as the same players were being used too often. The Champions League exit against PSG, particularly the second leg, saw the players looking drained even before the game had reached half time. It was lethargic, slow, plodding.

Elimination from the competition helped the players rest more, as there were now fewer games. While Chelsea took strides to add to both the starting XI and the depth, more players are needed in the summer to add more depth and dimension to the squad. This is particularly the case for the central midfield and attacking midfield positions. Chelsea shipped off Salah and Schurrle in January, and brought in Cuadrado for 30 million pounds.

Thus far, I have not been impressed by Cuadrado, and his limited game time suggest Mourinho doesn’t trust him yet either. Oscar was brilliant in the first half of the season, as always, and then promptly stopped being good once January rolled around. We need more quality depth here, so that injuries, fatigue or suspensions don’t cripple our attack, especially given that the side is heavily reliant on Hazard. In central midfield, quality cover is needed for both Fabregas and Matic – players who can both defend competently and distribute the ball with accuracy and ambition. Ramires is better in a 3 man midfield as a box-to-box player, and is hampered by the 2 man midfield pivot, though he is useful cover.

Mikel is a good defensive option, but the lack of appearances this season suggests he might be on his way out this summer. This does not mean a shopping spree, but rather a few shrewd acquisitions to tweak the squad.

One thing that still bothered me this season was that we struggled to score goals when we shouldn’t have. One cause of this is simply that our players can’t finish chances. Hazard or Fabregas might create brilliant chances, but no one can finish them. The other is that our attacking players just don’t shoot the ball enough. I’m reminded here of the winning goal Willian scored against Everton, in stoppage time.

Willian has a great shot, but rarely uses it. Ditto for both Oscar. Hazard shoot probably be shooting more as well, though he scores different kinds of goals. Too often the squad tries to walk the ball into the net when they could just shoot the ball when in a good goal scoring position.

A final thought here, and this will be really cheesy, but Chelsea players just seem to be at home here. I don’t know if that is the case for other teams, but watching them play, watching them in the media, watching Mourinho in interviews, you get the feeling that everyone at the club is there because they love the crest on their shirt, they love the club, they love the fans. Mourinho looks so at ease now, because he is home, he is at his club, the club he was meant for, and he has the backing of everyone.

The players love it here, and haven’t set their eyes on other pastures, because Chelsea is a place to be, it is a place to belong. And I love that this culture still exists, that new players have to in a sense buy into the the club and what it means, and I hope that continues.

In the 2014/2015 season Chelsea did not get anywhere near the number of penalties they deserved, this season it will not matter as the league has been won with something to spare but in future seasons it could be decisive.

Think I am being paranoid? Then take the recent Arsenal game, Chelsea were denied two penalties during the game that left little to be argued, a draw for Chelsea was enough to set up the league at Crystal palace but Chelsea were denied two points that on other occasions could be decisive.

Goals win matches and the penalty spot is almost an absolute lock with Eden Hazard as the lead penalty taker, therefore the denial of penalties in games big and small could be the difference between a title and a near miss in the future.

A Campaign Against Chelsea?

The number of non-calls this season was appalling, and disgusting. I don’t know if there is a campaign against Chelsea or not, but this needs to stop. I lost count of the number of times this season Chelsea should have been fairly awarded a spot kick, and didn’t get it. What made it worse was the number of times Chelsea players were booked for simulation for clear penalties, you are not going to get every decision but to get accused of cheating on top of not getting the penalty is ridiculous.

Will It Change Next Season

The refereeing this season across the Premier League but Mourinho has painted a target on the club’s back by being so outspoken about the poor decisions he felt Chelsea have received, referees do not take kindly to this so I would not expect a renaissance in refereeing anytime soon.

I hope next season referees actually award penalties to Chelsea when they are deserved and we get better rub of the green.

Yesterday Chelsea won the Premier League with three games to spare underlining the force of nature and hunger for winning at Stamford Bridge. This hunger extends beyond the first team and has permeated across the English game at a Mens, Womens and Youth level, even our loanees have been getting in on the act.

This Chelsea meme shows the dominance that the Blues have had in English football this season across all levels of the game.

Premier League Champions – won with three games to go, we are Champions for the first time in five years

League Cup Champions – As in his first season at the Bridge this was Mourinho’s first trophy that was followed up with a Premier League title

UEFA Youth Cup Champions –  The U19’s beat Shaktar Donestk to win the UEFA Youth Cup as part of an exciting double for our youth team

FA Youth Cup Champions – For the second year in a row our u18’s won the most prized competition in domestic youth football with talented players such as Dominic Solanke starring.

Championship Player Of The Year – Patrick Bamford’s goals on loan to Middlesbrough earned him the player of the year award in the Championship.

Women’s Player Of The Year – Ji So-Yun won the PFA Women’s player of the year award and the Chelsea Ladies team sit top of the Womens Super League. Whatever level or competition across the board the blues are dominating.

Six Players In The Player Of The Year Team –  Chelsea players took more than half the spots in the PFA team of the year – John Terry, Diego Costa, Gary Cahill, Branislav Ivanovic, Eden Hazard, Nemanja Matic

PFA Player of The Year –  Eden Hazard took home the PFA player of the year award ahead of Harry Kane and co

What a brilliant season for the Blues.