Chelsea played their first friendly of the season last night, and the whole world was impressed.
The Blues finished the season on a strong run of form. Then they went to the Club World Cup and won it.
The big question was whether they would be able to keep that momentum going into the new season. From yesterday’s evidence, the response to that is a resounding yes.
If you’re looking at the Blues’ odds for the Premier League title you’re probably better off playing roulette at some online casinos, you’ll stand a better chance of winning! Enzo Maresca’s team were supposed to be sluggish and undercooked, coming into the game after just a week of training in most cases, against a Leverkusen team who are already a few friendlies deep into their preseason.
Instead it was the total opposite – Maresca’s men were full of verve and flair, the Germans were the ones struggling to keep up. Even a mixed team full of youngsters and debutants, with major changes through the game, blew them away.
Even the people who have been most positive about our chances this season were blown away. Pundits raved about the team performance. There’s another friendly on Sunday against AC Milan, and we expect almost a full inversion of the team and bench from yesterday.
Things get really exciting for next weekend, however. That’s when we get our first sighting of the manager’s actual first team for the season. Given the quality additions we’ve made over the summer, we can’t wait to see it.
There are some big questions to answer, but surely none bigger than the question of what to do with Estevao Willian. The Brazilian winger is still so young, and we’d imagine that Maresca has been planning to use him just as an impact sub. But after last night’s showing he’s already pushing for a start.
If he shines off the bench against Milan tomorrow, the pressure ramps up again. Pedro Neto and Cole Palmer look most likely to start out wide against Crystal Palace on the opening day as it stands, but Estevao is already putting crazy pressure on them.
At the very least, he can expect to be first attacking option off the bench in these opening weeks – and with Jamie Gittens also impressing last night, that’s a scary prospect for opposition teams. Palace’s full backs better be preparing for what could be a very long afternoon for them.
