The Ben Jacobs Chelsea column was first published exclusively at SPTC on Monday 4th September!
Chelsea suffered a disappointing 1-0 loss at home to Nottingham Forest on Saturday. It felt like a game from last season under Graham Potter.
It’s a shame Nicolas Jackson missed such a clear-cut chance to equalise, but he is a very strong-minded and ambitious character and I don’t expect it to knock his confidence.
Sources: Operation Ivan Toney now begins for Chelsea!
I do think Chelsea lacked a bit of identity. Pre-season chemistry was really strong, but Mauricio Pochettino is now playing a slightly more fluid 4-2-3-1. Not everyone seems clear on their role.
It looks like a 3-4-2-1 on paper, and it is at times. Chelsea tend to revert to a back three in the build up. Malo Gusto and Levi Colwill are the full-backs in the back four, but we also see times when Axel Disasi, Thiago Silva and Levi Colwill are just in a back three.
There is not much balance because on the other side Ben Chilwll is not fulfilling quite the same role as Gusto. He is being utilised as a left winger more than a full back. I think he’s far more comfortable in the latter position.
To reiterate a point I have made before, the challenge Pochettino faces is the best formation to keep the centre-backs happy (when all fit) and get the best out of Chilwell and Reece James (when he returns) is a back three. But a standard 4-2-3-1 feels like Chelsea’s best chance of scoring freely. And it’s Pochettino’s preferred style.
Pochettino said in pre-season Chelsea must win “today” but I think he’s quickly appreciating time and patience are needed. That doesn’t mean the project is failing, though. Quite the opposite…
The summer window was all about a squad transformation, and ensuring outgoings, and Chelsea succeeded in both. £448m was spent (taking transfer fees over three windows to £1bn!). But £295m was brought in via sales and loan fees. The average age of new signings this summer was 20.5 and the average squad age is 22.5. We mustn’t forget that. Chelsea is a club that demands success now but this is also a team for the future.
The clear aim now is to get back into the Champions League for next season. It’s an achievable goal. James, Chilwell, Levi Colwill, Enzo, Moises Caicedo and Raheem Sterling are key to that in my view. They are the spine of the team. Some may say Jackson also, but I really think Sterling (with his Premier League experience) is vital this campaign. I’ll be interested to see how both Romeo Lavia and Cole Palmer fit in as well.
It’s been an impressive transfer window for Chelsea. The top-target, Caicedo, was secured, and adding Lavia completes the midfield revamp. And keeping Gallagher could prove beneficial as well, even if just as a squad player.
Outgoings-wise, Chelsea didn’t manage quite as many as they wanted, but it was always going to be challenging to reduce the squad size to under 25 in one window.
Getting Romelu Lukaku off the wage bill and getting rid of Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, Kalidou Koulibaly and Hakim Ziyech was important. That’s four high earners gone.
Chelsea are perfectly happy keeping Conor Gallagher, who is also intent on fighting for his place. Spurs did make a late-window approach but their valuation was only around £35m. Chelsea were only ever going to consider a sale for closer to £50m.
Trevor Chalobah wanted the move to Bayern, but the German window closed a few hours earlier on September 1 and no agreement was reached. Bayern preferred a loan. Chalobah could have gone to Nottingham Forest but wasn’t keen. I don’t see him getting many Chelsea minutes and it wouldn’t surprise me if Bayern come back in with a loan offer in January.
I was surprised Ian Maatsen didn’t go to Burnley on a loan with an obligation to buy, especially after Marc Cucurella’s loan to Manchester United fell through. There are a lot of left-backs at the club suddenly, albeit Maatsen has been used in a more advanced position.
Had Burnley offered £20-25m at the beginning of the window, Maatsen would have likely moved. But he got minutes in pre-season and was reluctant to exit, even knowing Burnley so well from his time with them on loan last season. Chelsea now want Maatsen to sign a new contract and if he doesn’t he’s another one who will be put on the market in January.
Cucurella had a high loan fee (around £7m), and when he played against Wimbledon (his first game of the season) he was no longer eligible for a January break clause, which Manchester United wanted because Luke Shaw is only out for weeks not months with a muscle injury. The way the rules work, Cucurella couldn’t have gone Chelsea-Manchester United-Chelsea in the same season.
So Pochettino is left with a squad size that’s 3-4 bigger than he’d prefer, but it’s not crazily big. At least everyone can fit into Cobham now! Chelsea need a win at Bournemouth now after the international break. Three league losses in a row will cause a mini-meltdown amongst the fanbase, and the October-November fixtures get harder as well.
The aim is to remain within touching distance of the top four. Chelsea are six adrift now. They can’t allow that gap to get into double figures before Christmas.
I don’t think it’s all doom and gloom at all. I actually expected this, because there’s just been so much change. Success will ultimately only come with stability. But once Chelsea get going it’s clear they have the talent to rise up the table and I still expect that to happen sooner rather than later.
Ben Jacobs
Excellent piece. More like this, please!