Every year we slightly dread the Christmas period’s intense fixture list, a time when Chelsea traditionally don’t do well at all.
Last year was a perfect example – we were top of the league coming into the 12th month of the year, only to begin a total collapse that lasted well into the Spring. It’s happened plenty of times before.
This was set to be a particularly tough December, with 8 games for us to play. Yet oddly, the curiosities of the Christmas calendar means that we’ve ended up with a free midweek, right in the eye of the storm.
We hope that players and staff are using it to rest and recover and get some time off. After this, it’s back to the mayhem. A Saturday night game against Aston Villa this weekend is so juicy – they’ve won ten on the spin, and are above us in the table. We then close out the month with Bournemouth’s trip to Stamford Bridge.
January is just insane – another 8 games for us to play. It also makes it a great time to bet on where we’ll finish this season, as the odds can shift so dramatically in the space of these next 4 weeks. You can click here to find free bet offers if you think this is the moment that things are going to turn in our favour of this intense period.
January’s fixture list sees us play Man City, Fulham, Charlton in the FA Cup, Brentford, Pafos in the Champions League, Crystal Palace, Napoli in the Champions League and then West Ham. There’s a full spread of games in there, from the very winnable to the toughest you’ll get all year.
By comparison, last January saw us draw with Palace, beat Morecambe in the FA Cup, draw with Bournemouth, beat Wolves, and lose to Man City. One league win all month was a disaster, especially as we closed out December with defeats to Ipswich and Fulham and a draw with Everton.
We are not at our best right now, but we’ve navigated December more successfully than we did a year ago, and we have a great chance to lay down a better January too. If this free week is well used getting everyone physically and mentally ready and we beat a strong Villa side on Saturday, confidence will suddenly be high, and we could actually build up a head of steam heading into the New Year.
Players who will need to step up to stop Chelsea’s stalling season
If we’re going to get the results we need from this winter run, we’re going to need several players to step up and find a new gear.
Through the spine of the team, we’ve actually got a good group in form: Robert Sanchez is doing well in goal. Trevoh Chalobah is playing well at the back, especially when Wesley Fofana is fit enough to play alongside him. Reece James is doing brilliantly, whether deployed at right back or in midfield.
Moises Caicedo has been one of the best players in the league this season and Marc Cucurella has been good too, especially considering the number of minutes he’s played.
That’s a solid base – so who needs to do more? Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho have shown flashes of good form, and the former in particular has started scoring more often. But both need to deliver every week. Even playing well every other game isn’t enough.
Enzo Fernandez has had some great runs of games in the last 12 months, but has been off the boil lately, leading to his dropping to the bench against Newcastle last week. The poor guy needs an extended break after an insane few years of playing non-stop, and until he gets it we doubt we’ll see the best of him.
Cole Palmer still looks rusty and half fit. Despite his break to recover from injury, he looks far from his best and we worry he’s not going to reach it if he starts being overplayed.
As ever, the real issue is up top. Joao Pedro doesn’t seem interested in leading the line. Liam Delap seems very keen on it but not very good at it. Neither has the eye for goal we need, and neither has really built on their early promise in a Chelsea shirt.
All of these guys, plus fringe rotation options like Estevao, Benoit Badiashile and Jamie Gittens, are going to need to deliver a lot more next month as we call on them to help the first team. The first team is slowing down, and right now their backups don’t look ready willing or able to step into the breach. That’s a worrying situation to be in for the Blues at a crucial moment in the season, and perhaps in the story of this “project” which is still trying to find some purpose and some direction.
9 January games – how many wins?
