Just six days after Chelsea won their London derby against Tottenham, Chelsea invited Manchester City to Stamford Bridge where the game ended 4-4.
Tottenham and Manchester City were both expected to beat Chelsea, but the Blues put all doubts to sleep in both of the enthralling games.
It is now starting to look like the ‘project’ Chelsea have been working on since Todd Boehly purchased the club is finally starting to yield some promising results on the scoresheets.
Transfer window madness
Questions of concern regarding the ‘Chelsea project’ started arising when the club signed 8 players in the 2023 January transfer window. All the players bought were young and mentioned that the ‘Chelsea project’ allured them to sign on the dotted line.
These signings happened in the middle of what was a very difficult season for Chelsea. With only four players sold in that window, it had gotten to a point where Chelsea was overflowing with players.
This business was a foreshadowing of what was to come in the summer window.
As expected, Chelsea was headlining all media outlets with their moves in the summer transfer window. Chelsea made 13 signings, and had slightly more outgoings. This meant that Chelsea had to say goodbye to club legend César Azpilicueta and Cobham graduate Mason Mount.
It was the end of an era, with the 2023/24 season a true new beginning for the club, with an almost entirely new squad.
Time and patience
Ever since the shocking exit of former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel shortly after the start of the 2022/23 season, Chelsea seemed to move further into a decline in terms of performance.
The problems in Chelsea’s previous season seemed endless, with the Blues only managing 11 Premier League wins in a 38-game season. The biggest and most obvious problem though was that goals were scarce.
This was a problem that seemed to have been solved during preseason, with new signings Nicolas Jackson, Mykhalio Mudryk and Christopher Nkunku all scoring goals. But a couple of injuries just at the beginning of the 2023/24 season, and it looked like Chelsea was back to square one. They could not score goals again.
Visible change
Despite Chelsea struggling to score goals in the first few games of this season, there has still been an obvious improvement in general performance.
Gaps in the midfield are now filled with the likes of Enzo Fernández, Conor Gallagher and Moises Caicedo. And whilst the defense was not Chelsea’s weakest point last season, the additions of Malo Gusto, Axel Disasi and Levi Colwill has strengthened the backline. The attacking group has also seen a massive improvement, with Cole Palmer, Mykhalio Mudryk and Nicolas Jackson showing great strengths, even without goals.
So despite the lack of goals, the overall performance has improved. To anyone who pays attention, it has been clear that there is a direction in which this ‘Chelsea project’ is going, and it seems to be a good one.
It must be added though, Chelsea’s last few features have shown the Chelsea squad finally convert chances into goals. Mykhalio Mudryk has scored three goals so far, before temporarily being left out of the squad due to injury.
Raheem Sterling has put in some sublime performances as well, a special mention being the one against his former club Manchester City, where he scored a goal. Jackson scored a hattrick at the London derby against Tottenham, and a goal against City too. As for Palmer, he has now found himself as the primary penalty taker for Chelsea and has so far not missed a single one yet. That includes scoring another one against his old club Manchester City.
Players retained by the club have improved their form, and new signings are starting to prove why Chelsea chose them.
Chelsea has shown that they are gradually improving and that the project will soon turn out successful. It will be a work in progress, as it has been thus far, but the signs are looking quite positive. Consistency will be the key from here on out.