The Best and Worst of Chelsea this Season

When the season began for Chelsea back in August last year, it came off the back of what felt like one of the most important summers in their modern history. It seemed like the club had decided to take a real gamble and tear up their past process of hiring an established manager to try and bring them immediate success. The hierarchy at Chelsea employed club legend Frank Lampard as manager even though he had only had one year of experience at Derby with mixed results. This, plus the need to push through young talent into the first team due to the transfer ban, gave Chelsea a refreshed and different feel about them.

When the matches began, it felt for the first time since Roman Abramovich had taken over that the pressure had been taken off to deliver trophies and the team could learn to gel and enjoy their football. After a topsy-turvy season that has so far delivered some fantastic results and some shocking defeats, the club find themselves in 4th place which is better than most fans and critics had predicted them to achieve. Here, then, is a quick rundown of who has had the best and worst performances so far playing for the blues.  

Great in Attack

The midfield duo of Jorginho and Kovacic have been an absolute breathe of fresh air this season. Last year, both players were seen as extensions of Maurizio Sarri and his unpopular Sarri-ball. That is, they did not do a lot except pass the ball sideways over and over. Yet this year, no doubt due to the exit of Sarri and the freedom that Lampard has granted them, they have looked both dynamic and dangerous going forward for Chelsea. 

This has led to both of them becoming high demand first team players and also becoming fan favourites of the Chelsea crowd. With rumours of Sarri wanting to pinch Jorginho for his Juventus team, there was a time last year when most Chelsea fans would have offered to drive the player to Turin themselves. Yet now, there is real hope that he will see out his contract, and perhaps even extend it. Kovacic meanwhile has become not only more valued by Chelsea, but critics as well have begun to sit up and notice the greatness of this player.

The young striker Tammy Abraham has been an absolute revelation up front this season. Chelsea have been eager to find a replacement for Diego Costa since he moved back to Atletico Madrid in 2017, and Abraham has seemingly finally filled the gap left by the bullish Brazilian. The player has netted 13 times so far in the league and looks set to build upon that for the future. 

Lacklustre in Defence

Most of Chelsea’s defence could, unfortunately, be featured under this heading. There have been players that have stood out and been exciting for the fans to see, such as Reece James and Fikayo Tomori, but mostly it has been a season to forget in defence. 

If you look at the expected goals (or xg for short) data, then you can see that Chelsea have let in more goals then they would have been expected to, with the chances that they have gifted to the opponents. The data behind xg can be difficult to get your head round, but once you understand the statistics, it is a useful tool to help people further understand exactly how well a team or player is doing. The defence have only managed a pitiful 6 clean sheets this season as well, which is far away from being a great return. 

The one player that has taken the most flak for his lacklustre performances this season is the goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga. The keeper arrived for a mammoth £71.6 million in 2018, and it’s fair to say that the title of the world’s most expensive goalkeeper has weighed heavily on the Spaniard’s shoulders. It has been noted that Kepa seems woeful at protecting his six-yard box on crosses and corners and is extremely susceptible to being bullied by attacking players due to his small stature and skinny frame. 

It’s rumoured that Chelsea will stick with their expensive signing going forward and not seek to replace him, and the club will hope that Kepa will improve in the areas that his game is currently lacking. This will then hopefully make the entire defence more robust and harder to break down in the future and help Chelsea add to the great foundations they have built so far this season.

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