After the rain comes the good weather. Exactly a year ago, Chelsea stumbled at Stamford Bridge against Aston Villa (0-1). With only five points and three defeats in six days, the Blues occupied a 14e place unworthy of their status – and their colossal means. Water has flowed under the bridges, the coach has changed, new players (again) have arrived, and the London club has regained momentum to the point of sticking with Manchester City and Arsenal. A consistent start to the season with the quality and quantity of the squad available to Enzo Maresca. It was time.
The Cole of the fans
Chelsea will be fourth or fifth in the championship at the end of the weekend, depending on Aston Villa’s result at Ipswich this Sunday (3 p.m.). After a rather logical inaugural defeat against the reigning champion (0-2), the Blues have started moving forward, like Cole Palmer. The English striker, whose coldness in front of goal has now earned him the nickname “Cold” Palmer, lit up Stamford Bridge this Saturday against Brighton, scoring four goals in twenty minutes: an uncontrolled left-foot strike on an offering from Nicolas Jackson (21e), a penalty transformed with authority on the wrong foot (28e), a sublime free kick from 25 meters (31e) and a shot full of spontaneity at the near post to reward the good pressing of his team (41e). His second quadruple of the year 2024 since he had already massacred the Everton defense on April 15. And a real feat, since never before has a player planted four in the first half of a Premier League match
On his little cloud, the serial killer has six goals and four assists in six PL games this season, making him the most clutch of the championship (tied with Erling Haaland). “You would have to be blind not to see how good he issavored his coach at the end of the meeting. I told him he could have added two or three more. It’s important to be hungry and ambitious. » Everything his club wants, after two somewhat dull seasons.
A well-oiled prototype
Unlike last year, the Blues are in the match with the big arms of the championship. They will therefore not spend their time chasing points lost at the start of the season, which changes the situation considerably. Chef Enzo Maresca’s mayonnaise is starting to take effect, particularly offensively. THE Blues have the most prolific attack in the championship with an average of 2.5 goals per match – we particularly remember the 6-2 that Wolverhampton ate at home on August 25. The quartet formed by Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson, Noni Madueke and Jadon Sancho has enough to make any defense tremble, and this Chelsea still has some under its feet with Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto or João Félix on the bench .
The potential is immense and the team is obviously not running at full capacity when we observe defensive errors as gross as those committed against the Seagullspunished by Georginio Rutter and Carlos Baleba. There are still a few bugs to fix but while waiting for the final version, the prototype already looks good. The shocks against Liverpool (October 20), Manchester United (November 3) and Arsenal (November 10) will quickly allow us to gauge ourselves. And perhaps to assert a little more the ambitions of a club whose teeth scratch the floor.
With a goal from Nkunku, Chelsea beat Brighton and should play the C4
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