On Sky Sports today they were taking a look at Chelsea’s season as a whole, ahead of our game against Brighton tonight.
The discussion was framed in a positive way – despite some horror results like the 5-0 loss to Arsenal dampening the mood, this has actually been a season of solid improvement from the Blues. Dougie Critchley pointed out that the underlying numbers have had us as a Europa League level team pretty much all year, and it was just some remarkably poor finishing and some defensive errors which cost us vital early points.
We lost 7 of our first 16 which set us back, but since then there has been notable improvement, despite a general lack of consistency through the squad.
His point is that if you extrapolate out the last 20 games, Chelsea are actually doing pretty well. They don’t need to improve a huge amount in the summer, just gain some consistency. Key to that, he says, is keeping Conor Gallagher.
“If they can keep this momentum, going into the summer, don’t lose too many key player – I’m looking at you Conor Gallagher – add one or two, we could be looking at a top 4 finish next season,” one pundit commented.
It’s easier said than done, but we do expect some level of consistency to develop naturally in this group as they gain experience. There’s also plenty of talent already on the books still to be unlocked. Keeping Gallagher and adding 2 or 3 top tier players would be more than enough to provide a top 4 challenging squad.
But that’s easier said than done of course – he’s not yet signed a new contract, and adding top tier players is remarkably difficult unless you’re willing to pay £100m for them (and even then, it’s no guarantee of anything.)
You can see their assessment in the clip embedded here:
"The consistency just hasn't been there" ❌
The Football Show panel on Chelsea's season 👀 pic.twitter.com/aOjj9ynS4q
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 15, 2024
