Chelsea are no strangers to silverware. Within the last four years, they’ve won the FA Cup and the Europa League, and are of course the reigning European champions after winning the Champions League for the second time in their history in May.
But with Manchester City and Liverpool’s recent dominance, the Blues have not been in serious contention to win the Premier League title since last winning it in 2016-17. However, that is all going to change this 2021-22 season, which is shaping up to be the one where Chelsea reclaim their crown.
SBOTOP is here to break down the three big reasons why the Blues are set to become England’s best once again.
The Thomas Tuchel defensive transformation
It all starts with Thomas Tuchel. The German tactician was brought in to replace Frank Lampard as manager midseason, which sparked a remarkable turnaround.
After Tuchel’s appointment on Jan. 26, Chelsea went on to win 11 of their last 19 games, with five draws and three defeats. Their 38 points during that time was second only to champions Manchester City, who had 48 points in their 20 games.
The key to Chelsea’s sudden transformation was their terrific defence. While the Blues scored a mere 25 goals in those 19 games, they conceded just 13, which was the best defensive record over that time.
It was amazing how quickly Tuchel implemented his system to make Chelsea rock-solid at the back. He put his decent but unspectacular centre-backs in a position to succeed, with Andreas Christensen in particular shining under the German. He also got the best out of N’Golo Kante, who at age 30 remains one of the top defensive midfielders in the world.
Without a doubt, that defensive solidity was a major reason for their Champions League triumph. And as Chelsea fans know all too well, that strength at the back can also lead to Premier League success, which they saw first-hand in the Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte title-winning campaigns.
So with Chelsea likely to build off that strong defensive foundation, they should be right there in title contention over a full season.
Chelsea attack set to be unleashed
As great as Chelsea were in defence under Tuchel, their attack admittedly left a lot to be desired. After watching Lampard’s swashbuckling style for a season and a half, the Blues fans then saw Tuchel’s methodical, conservative, possession-based system which helped improve the defence, but did not produce many goals.
The fact that Jorginho was the team’s leading scorer with seven goals – all penalties – is simply unacceptable considering the amount of money Chelsea spent on attacking players over the past few transfer windows.
But the bright side for the Blues is that there is so much room for improvement in that area of the pitch because of all the incredible attacking talent they already have.
Timo Werner was a massive disappointment in his debut season in England as he finished with just six goals, but he at least continued to create decent chances both for himself and others. With a little more luck in terms of his finishing, he could be back to looking like his very best at Leipzig.
Kai Havertz was similarly underwhelming to start, but he came on strong as the season wore on, especially once Tuchel began to play him more up front. And of course, he came up big with the winning goal in the Champions League final. At just 22 years of age, there are clearly more Premier League 2021 highlights to come from him.
The same can be said of fellow 22-year-olds Mason Mount, who is maturing into one of the top midfielders in Europe, and the electric Christian Pulisic. Both Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech have some issues staying fit, but they are both outstanding players when healthy.
Now that Tuchel has had more time with this group and has a better sense of the pieces at his disposal, expect him to make a few more tweaks to his system get the best out of his world-class attackers this season.
Blues’ great squad can get even better
The Premier League 2021 betting odds have Chelsea as one of the top three title favourites at the moment, and on paper, their squad is pound-for-pound as good as Man City’s or Liverpool’s.
Granted, they seem to be missing that signature Player of the Year-type star like a Kevin de Bruyne, a Virgil van Dijk, or a Bruno Fernandes. But Kante at his best can be just as impactful, and his presence is a major reason why Chelsea have been dominant defensively despite missing a superstar centre-back.
They also have a great quantity of quality. Their squad is so overflowing with good players that they’ve already sold Fikayo Tomori and Olivier Giroud to AC Milan and are expected to offload midfielders Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Tammy Abraham and Callum Hudson-Odoi could be starting in any other Premier League club, but they can hardly get a look-in at Chelsea.
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what the biggest weakness in Chelsea’s squad is. Some would argue it’s in central midfield, where they are fairly thin with just Jorginho, Kante, and Mateo Kovacic. Others would say it’s their lack of a reliable goalscoring striker.
But the Blues have an ace up their sleeve, which is their chequebook. They can flex their strong financial muscle at any time and spend the cash needed to address those areas of concern.
They have long been linked with West Ham midfielder Declan Rice and could even be a destination for Dortmund’s Erling Haaland. With their history of spending huge sums of money, it would not come as a surprise if they acquired them, which would take their squad over the top.
But even if they don’t make that splashy signing, the collection of talent Chelsea currently have, with a master tactician in Thomas Tuchel leading them, is clearly more than capable of reclaiming the Premier League crown this season.
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