When the reigning champions finish a season mid-table, there might not be many “best moments.” However, we asked our team to identify the positive moments in a rather difficult year, while also selecting the “worst.” We present to you our new annual awards, “Lampards and Rafas: The Best and Worst of Chelsea 2015/16.”
Daniel “The Boss” Vernon
- Best/Lampard: Beating Arsenal twice in our worst season. Reveling in a small win is typically behavior more common of Arsenal, but our season was terrible and over before Christmas. Beating the Gunners twice still shows who is the best team in London… we don’t even need to mention the Spurs.
- Worst/Rafa: Chelsea’s transfer policy, Removal of Mourinho. Spoken about by the players in interviews, their play let Mourinho down and led to his dismissal. If it had been say, AVB, I wouldn’t have minded, but this was The Special One. And don’t get me startted on transfers… we’re used to getting it right, but can anyone really explain what’s happening now?
Eetu “The Manager” Ikola
- Best/Lampard: Guus’s second coming. Not too many things went right during the season, but most of what did happened under the Dutchman. Reviving the players’ self-confidence by going through a solid 14-game unbeaten run in the league was the best we could get by the time. Sure, we all have to be disappointed on the amount of draws in the league — and the exit from the Champions League and FA Cup. Where Hiddink found more success was in rejuvenating players like Fabregas, Diego Costa, and now Hazard too. Good luck to the man with his future!
- Worst/Rafa: Tenuous transfer market activity. One of the biggest symptoms of our horrendous title defense was our almost non-existent attempts on signing high-profile players. This would have increased our chances of retaining the trophy and going forward in Europe. Winning the league last season should’ve been enough to attract bigger names, and we certainly had the money too. However, we were fine singing the Pedros of the world, which were clearly not enough to increase the overall quality of the quad. This summer we are in need of an immediate rebuilding of the squad with a big-money overhaul to get us back into the title race.
Dan “Our Football Philosopher” Dormer
- Best/Lampard: Emergence of Traore, Kenedy, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and the youth. In my FIFA 2016 campaign, this trio garnered more minutes under me than Hiddink, but how could you not be excited to see some youth enter into our first-team? Given the way the season progressed, you would have hoped for more chances for them (especially when we were out of top four… out of the Champions League… out of the FA Cup) and other academy starlets. We need to find a balance within the game with respect to world-class stars, youth prospects, and rotational players, and I’m hopeful this is a sign we’re rethinking how the club replenishes the cupboard.
- Worst/Rafa: Falling out of Europe. Champions League football is magical. I’d have even settled for Europa League if it meant we would have been present in European competitions! Not just from a financial prospective, but in terms of prestige, not getting to play the best (or attract the talent that wants to play against them) hurts the club. However, it hurts fans more. Let’s hope this gap year allows time to regroup and quickly return to the streets of France, Spain, Germany, and beyond.
Jack “Who Scores A” Brace
- Best/Lampard: Hazard against Tottenham. Although it was a woeful season for Chelsea, their biggest objective was to prevent a Tottenham title with a win or draw at Stamford Bridge (allowing Leicester City their coronation). The club looked down and out at half time, as the Spurs took a 2-0 lead into the dressing room. Chelsea fans were appalled by the performance, which could have lead to Tottenham’s first victory at the Bridge in 26 years. Eden Hazard took the game by the reins with a substitution after the break. With a superb run from deep, and a quick one-two with Costa, his beautiful curling effort nestled in the top corner as the Belgian scored Chelsea’s “goal of the season.” It was the perfect recipe for a title ending dish.
- Worst/Rafa: Chelsea’s peculiar transfer activity. When the club won their first Premier League title in five years, many of the fans were hoping that the club would sign world class reinforcements, but sadly that wasn’t the case. The summer dragged on and the club continued to chase one player, only realizing the he wasn’t available until far too late. After attempting to splash some ridiculous cash at an unproven English defender, the club decided to take action and look for alternatives at deadline day. That’s how we arrived at the signing of now club-legend of Papy Mison Djilobodji.
Elisha “With the Hattrick” Delaney
- Best/Lampard: Stopping Tottenham’s title challenge. Although this season was one of our worst in a long time, we can still take a positive from stopping the Spurs from winning the league (finishing third!) By starting 2-0 down to come back and level the score at 2-2, Chelsea continued 26 years of dominance of Tottenham at Stamford Bridge. Helping the Ranieri lead his Leicester City side to their Premier League title was an added benefit!
- Worst/Rafa: Not improving the squad during the transfer window. After Chelsea’s title win last season, we were hoping the club would build on what we had. Opposing teams understood our weaknesses, knowing exactly how to break us down and how to beat us from the previous season’s tactics. After a poor transfer window, Chelsea sent more players away on loan and and only brought in a handful of average player signings. We were left vulnerable by this and clearly suffered, leading to the sacking of one of Chelsea’s most successful managers, Jose Mourinho.
Kevin “The Dude” Dunlap
- Best/Lampard: Beating Arsenal; twice. Chelsea were extremely disappointing this season, but we always seem to show up against Arsene Wenger and Arsenal.
- Worst/Rafa: Sacking Jose. Jose lead Chelsea to back to back Premier League titles in his first term. He helped make Chelsea a global powerhouse. Our transfer policy last summer was atrocious and definitely contributed to the outcome of our season.
Kieran, The “Stamford Edition”
- Best/Lampard: Home vs. Tottenham, ending their title dreams. We completely ended the title hopes of a rival, and saw Eden Hazard return to form. Watching him score the equalizer and ultimately win Leicester the league; can’t beat that.
- Worst/Rafa: Sacking Jose. Though the results were difficult, sacking Chelsea’s best ever manager was only a short-term solution. There are still plenty of problems that remain.
What were your best and worst moments of the 2015/16 Chelsea season? Let us know in the comments!
And now, onto 2016/17.