Most football teams are surrounded with varying degrees of hyperbole when things are going well or badly.
According to most of the British press, Liverpool presently are just about the greatest team ever produced by the Anfield club. Conversely, Arsenal are in absolute tatters and Arsene Wenger should be jettisoned. It’s probably best no one mentions Manchester United.
With poor results against Crystal Palace and Paris Saint-Germain, it’s now Chelsea’s turn.
Except, that is, if you look at what pre-season expectations were and where the club actually is. A title challenge was expected, they have duly mounted one and are still in the race.
No one expected Chelsea to win the Champions League and it looks unlikely they will. A 2-0 home win against PSG next week, however, would take them to yet another semi-final. Other than last year’s flop, Chelsea have been remarkably consistent in the Champions League.
Chelsea, to a large degree, have shot themselves in the foot in the past week with meek performances in both matches. Two own goals and a very weak third effort against PSG and it’s little surprise they have been on the receiving end twice in five days.
It was clear Chelsea had deficiencies at the start of the season. Their pursuit of Wayne Rooney proved in vain. The trio of a declined Fernando Torres, a substandard Demba Ba and an ageing Samuel Eto’o was always going to leave Chelsea lacking in that department.
Jose Mourinho signed Nemanda Matic to go a large way to solving the other issue of the deep-lying midfield players that Chelsea were lacking.
At times this season, Chelsea have looked like a ‘Mourinho team’, especially after Christmas and with the arrival of Matic. The team however, started the season very unbalanced and Mourinho does not have a magic wand – even if at times he appears to.
Chelsea may yet recover, knock-out PSG and win the league, but even if they don’t, assuming there isn’t an almighty collapse in the premiership, this should be seen as a bright season for Chelsea.
New strikers are of paramount necessity this summer and Mourinho will have to decide whether he trusts David Luiz to replace John Terry in the long-term – I suspect he does not.
The other issue that will require addressing is whether to persevere with Petr Cech or cash-in on him, bearing in mind he would still be a valuable commodity thinking about financial fair play. Chelsea have had Thibaut Courtois out on loan for several seasons to Atletico Madrid, with an extension to both his Chelsea contract and his Madrid loan now being mooted. Cech was at fault for two of the goals against PSG and while he has been a fine servant, it is worth a discussion at least.
Chelsea fans should not be to downcast right now and the press should find some context in the team’s development. Chelsea are far from underdogs in nearly any match-up these days, but they are still a team emerging from a period of transition.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
whiskey, we have nothing against stoke. We just needed an average yet real club who is very unlikely to ever achieve anything for the sake of our argument. And Stoke came to mind ;) Any publicity is good publicity anyway.
Steven McBain
Roar Guru
Well that's enough good enough reason to repeat it in my books Andrew!
Andrew
Guest
I know, that's why it was relegated to the crazy alternative... However, it still annoys some Tottenham fans!!
Steven McBain
Roar Guru
Andrew, first part correct, 2nd part urban myth. It's been repeated many times. Robinho thought he was signing for ManU, Qataris thought they were buying ManU, repeat repeat ad tedium...........
Steven McBain
Roar Guru
Cheers Drew, all good things come to those who wait I'm told...............!
Steven McBain
Roar Guru
Stoke, God I hate Stoke......... joke! Nick, have to say, that old PSG team with Ginola and Rai and co, class............. Should have won more but they were almost cooler by not winning, bit like Brazil of '82.......
whiskeymac
Guest
why are the rich kids picking on stoke? Typical nouvea behaviour, sneering at those who still live where you once were ;) Those new to the game wouldn't know of Chelsea and psg other than the platinum blondes they are now. You know, before the surgery to make them trophy (winning) wives. When Dennis wise was the most exotic thing in blue etcetera. Don't take it to heart though gents, tongue in cheek and jealousy in check , as I said am only recalling guardian article headlines through gooner eyes. Cheer up and enjoy being such tall poppies. Just lay off stoke.
drew777
Roar Pro
Agree on the Courtois front, it would be madness to choose Cech over him if push came to shove. Fair call - I misinterpreted it - mount a title challenge they did, favourites they were not, so we are on the same wavelength with that one. Was a good read Steven, should push for expert status with The Roar!
Andrew
Guest
Another reason is that he was able to buy the club for 1 pound as they were on the brink of bankruptcy at the time. Jesper Gronkjaer's goal a few weeks earlier against Liverpool to qualify for the champions league was in the end effectively worth over a billion pounds to the club too as Abramovich wanted a Champions League side. Alternatively, I read somewhere that buying Chelsea was a mistake by Abramovich. Apparently he decided to invest in an English club after flying over a ground in London in his helicopter! The ground - White Hart Lane
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
Mate completely agree with you. Am also getting tired of the 'nouveaux riches' cliché we keep hearing from ppl who discovered football a few years ago. These ppl have forgotten that Paris (like Chelsea) had a team before the Qatari took over. They were ranked n1 club in the world in 1994. Players like Weah, Ronaldinho, Rai, Valdo, Ginola, Fernandez, Susic have played there in the last 30 years. Like Chelsea, it was a club, not as rich as Barca, Bayern or Real but these were real clubs. If a millionaire buys Stoke City or Leeds tomorrow would these clubs cease to be 'clubs' and become brands? I have been a psg supporter since I was born and as a kid, in my eyes, Barca, Real and co were unfairly 'riches' and we had no chance against them! Why did they have Maradona, Schuster, Hugo Sanchez, Zamorano etc.? Why couldn't we afford these guys? Now that we have money some ppl try to lecture us that we aren't a club? hahaha yeah right. Sure I would prefer the old PSG I grew up with to be successful but we know you need money to succeed these days. I don't think we should apologise (Chelsea and paris fans) for having the money other teams have forever had.
Steven McBain
Roar Guru
Quite simple Bill, he needed to get his loot out of Russia where Putin couldn't or wouldn't get at it. Around that time, Khodorkovsky was firmly in the gun sights and slung in jail for political ambition. Abramovich himself had a lot of political power in Eastern Russia at the time, was time to get out of Dodge and take his money with him. I think from what I understand, somewhere around 30-35% is seen as an acceptable loss when laundering money internationally, I think that broadly would be in line with Abramovich's losses at Chelsea which is a pure coincidence I'm sure.
bill boomer
Guest
One wonders why RA chose CFC for his tilt at UEFA CL and not a Russian club, St Petersburg for example. The blowout in costs including ticket prices are in large measure down to him and the other billionaires buying the game. Football used to be a working class game and i for one don't like the direction it has taken with clubs and the game itself becoming the playthings of the new money. A lot of it being ill gotten gain.
Steven McBain
Roar Guru
Cheers Drew, I'd agree with you about Lukaku, to me he looks more than ready but something is not clicking about him with Mourinho, talk is he's on his way in the Summer too. With regard to the keeper situation, I think both keepers have stated they wish to be the undisputed no1 and looking at their relative talents I can see why. You could do as you say and pit them against each other but either way you're going to end up with one very unhappy player. I think we'll see Courtois on loan again next season but my concern is losing him in the long term. He's the future, not Cech. With regard to the last part, I said they were 'expected to mount a title challenge' and that's exactly what they've done and could still win it. I just didn't have down as favourites as I thought City would win it and that's what the bookies reckon right now. Cheers for reading the article!
Steven McBain
Roar Guru
Spot on Nick. I think most people were a little underwhelmed by PSG, was just awful defending by Chelsea. I don't see them defending that badly again so Chelsea do have a chance but I guess you have to have PSG as strong favourites from here. Chelsea fans harking back to the Napoli tie...........
Steven McBain
Roar Guru
Whiskeymac has hit a nerve! What I would say however is that I do agree with both you and Clayts here. The Chelsea fans behaved disgracefully - as is their way I'm afraid - and Mourinho is of course firmly tongue in cheek when he is referring to PSG and FFP. He's trying to send a message to Abramovich to spend like the old days because everyone is. Where I agree with Clayts is that generally the top clubs have ALWAYS spent the most money but for some reason everyone gets grumpy when someone that's not established does it, hence the noveau riche references ad tedium. The football world is a very different place in terms of it's a global brand. In days of yore it was a simple game of how much revenue you could generate locally that gave you the firepower. Now, it's very feasible for people to take a Chelsea or a City or a PSG and turn them into a global brand built on the back of short term success. Chelsea's revenues nowadays for instance would indicate they are a very big club even if they only get 40,000 every week. I've personally loved the Abramovich era and won't apologise for winning everything Chelsea have won. Yes, there have been moments when I've thought 'this isn't like the good old days and it will all end in tears' but so far so good and I'll continue to enjoy big nights like PSG this week, just would have preferred a different result! Cheers for taking the time to read the article both.
drew777
Roar Pro
Mourinho is no doubt ruthless but he hasn't been known to throw the baby out with the bath water. Maybe he will flick Schwarzer, bring back Courtois and pit him and Cech against each other. Having said that, both keepers would need to be receptive to the idea, which I doubt they would be - Cech not wanting to be bested and Courtois proving he can play at the top level, as a young keeper, will want to keep progressing. I can't wait to see who they sign to lead the line, but why not give Lukaku a shot? I agree with most of your article, but I'd like to add that Chelsea have an embarrassment of riches available, so anyone that didn't give them a shot at the title at the beginning of the season ("new" - although it is his second stint - coach and rebuilding or not) is having a laugh.
whiskeymac
Guest
Oh clayts. Chelsea fans are so sensitive. Not as sensitive as mourinho or vitesse arnhem fans but that's ok. The irony being Jose was unsure if psg complied with UEFA ftp rules leading up to the game. Anyhoots of course they can all spend money and wear Burberry and complain when others criticise, originally or not ( do criticism s have to be original to be true, could be awkward!) But I'll move on. I support professor failure though so take some joy in le smirk.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
Chelsea were a bit unlucky to concede a last minute goal. Having said that Paris dominated the 2nd half and Chelsea looked tired. They aren't out of it yet but I still think PSG will qualify. Cavanni will replace Ibra at 9 with Lucas and Lavezzi on the wings. They may concede a goal or 2 in London but I think these guys are way too quick for Chelsea's defence and will score at Stamford bridge. I don't think paris played that well tbh, especially Verratti and Matuidi who are usually much better. Thats why am optimistic for the 2nd leg as I think they can defenf a 2 goal advantage.
clayts
Guest
Wow. What an original comment. People need to get over that. Clubs spend money. Have been doing so for a pretty long time now. No one posted stupid comments like this when Stoke spent a bucket load this year. The article is spot on. They are still in the running to win the EPL despite almost no one tipping them to. Same goes for the Champions League which definitely no one tipped them to
whiskeymac
Guest
Nouvea riches with ostentatious displays of bought success beat nouvea riches with misfiring displays of bought success. The battle of the cheque books. Disgraceful fan display too. Oh well, one can't buy class.