Chelsea’s season is up and running, and it looks set to be just as unpredictable as last year.
If you’re a fan of a wager, you could go to an online casino like Kasinohai, but betting on the Blues would give you a similar thrill.
After last season – where they started strong, spiralled into disaster, then clawed things back just in time to make the top 4, then looked great at times at the Club World Cup – it was hard to know what to expect this year.
Will they start with the same strength they did last year, blowing teams away with goals, or would they pick up where they left off last season, gritting out narrow wins?
So far there’s been a bit of both, but the challenge facing this team is very different to that of a year ago. Looking back, Enzo Maresca had it easy. He could play a B team in midweek, then regularly change eleven players for the Premier League games at the weekend.
Now that’s all changed. Vital Champions League games are sandwiched between important league matches. The European games not only matter more, they’re played with more intensity against better opposition. It’s going to take a while for the group to adapt to the punishing new rhythm, especially while important players are out injured.
It does put last season into context – we were able to get closer to the top of the table, but playing Conference League football compared to Champions League was a massive relative advantage.
Now we’re in the same boat as those around us, and we’ve got to swim before we sink. Points earned (or dropped) now are worth just the same as those in May. Last season we relied on a phenomenal start to the season to see us through the tough period later on.
These next few weeks are vital if we’re planning to go deep into the Champions League next season. We need to get into gear and start racking up points. We’ve had a pretty soft start so far, and when things get tough we need to have enough in the bank to stay in the mix.
Consecutive home games in the Champions League against Benfica and Ajax, followed by an away trip to Qarabag simply have to bring 9 points if we want margin for error later in the league phase. That will in turn help our league campaign.
