Some will call me a balanced Chelsea fan with my opinions being very middle ground and often trying to see all sides of a story. Others will call me very negative. And some will call me overly positive. Honestly, I’ve regularly been called all of the above in recent years! Crazy, huh?
I personally try to be as balanced as possible, I always feel that is the best way to be. I believe I just call things as I see them, as they happen – good or bad.
Right now, I guess you might say that I am seeing things a little more positively than some are. I say that after seeing some posts on social media after the Burnley game. Obviously I was not happy or impressed at all with our performance, nor am I impressed in dropping points from leading positions in the games against two relegation fighting sides in our last two games. However, the bigger picture I don’t think is even that negative.
I absolutely do not disagree with any of this below, it’s pretty spot on. But I’ve seen some hyperbole too and I honesty don’t think we are at that point. For me, it’s Liam and (some of) the players who are actually giving me some positive hope.
Since Liam Rosenior took the reins, Chelsea have 8 wins from 12 matches, the only games gone awry being both legs of their Carabao Cup semi-final defeat to Arsenal, the 2-2 draw with Leeds, and then the abysmal performance in the 1-1 draw with Burnley at the weekend.
Seeing as he took over from Enzo Maresca and the season so far had continued to be very inconsistent, Rosenior’s start has been decent. The players have clearly taken to him and like him – they would have truly appreciated him giving them some needed time off last week. The fans at games have been singing his name already, meaning they are also taking to him. And judging by the polls I did last week, the community here have really taken to Rosenior too. We have all see some good and positive signs since he came in, even though there have been some recent blips.
For me, I’ve seen enough to stay rather positive, encouraged, and not overly fearful about the rest of this season. I’m not deluded though, I know with this squad, we are going to have ups and downs still. I know we will be inconsistent, and as I keep saying, I find it absurd that we still need around 4 more new players added into this squad for it to be truly complete. Am I confident and positive with our squad? Nope, not yet. But Rosenior for me has given me enough signs to feel less fearful as we head towards the end of this season.
He’s had players like Joao Pedro playing the best football of his life, he’s been mostly using full backs as full backs. And other than against Burnley, I’ve seen some decent flexibility, pragmatism, and dynamism from him. He’s made our midfield more stable with the use of Andrey Santos in there, and players like Enzo Fernandez and Cole Palmer have also stepped up their form under Rosenior too, albeit Palmer failed to turn up on Saturday, unfortunately. But overall, they all seem to be enjoying the setup much more. This has all been enough to give me a lot of encouragement.
Whilst I question the squad build and still believe we would be so much better off with some ‘older heads’ who have been there and done it added in, I think with the improvements and effect Rosenior has put in and had, we have enough to get Champions League football still this season, and I don’t think we need to be overly gloomy by our last two league fixtures even if yes, they are a bit of a concern.
I’ve spoken many times on how crazy this Premier League is this season. There is so much inconsistency, it’s not just Chelsea. This means that clubs like Aston Villa, in my opinion, could easily slip out of the UCL race – I’m not sure they have quite enough fuel in the tank to make it. Liverpool are still going to be up and down, but I see them as our biggest threat for UCL football. Manchester United have had an uptick in form under Michael Carrick but can that last? I think we’ll be OK, I really do.
Yes, we have a very tough run coming up and we needed to be getting all three points against teams like Leeds and Burnley leading into this run. But I actually back us more against the better sides in all honesty. There is less pressure, the game will be more open so no parked buses to get through, and I actually think we have better players for transitional football anyway, especially in wide areas.
Now Liam and Chelsea, it’s over to you to not make my eat all of these words! I’m backing you, show me that my gut feeling here is bang on.
Discussion about this post