Season in View (Chelsea F.C.)

Member Name: thespurs

Product:	Chelsea F.C.
Date:	01/05/05 (430 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good Football, Fantastic Manager, Team Spirt and Good Individuals

Disadvantages: Sometimes Very Defensive

I write this review as a Tottenham fan and more so a football fan in general. I like to let my views be known and invite others to comment on the issues, if any, that I may raise during the review. I want to make clear that this isn't a review of Chelsea as a football club, the history, match day details etc, but a look at this season so far for The Blues.

As I'm sure you all know, Chelsea picked up their first title for 50 years on Saturday. A 2-0 victory against Bolton, with the goals come from Frank Lampard, was enough to crown the West London side Barclaycard Premiership Champions. They became only the fourth different club to win the Premiership since its formation some 11 seasons ago. They remove the crown from Arsenal, much to my pleasure, who haven't really lived up to the standards that they set last season.

There are those that say that Chelsea have effectively bought the Premiership title. The cheque book of Roman Abramovich has seen more action than the local brothel this year, with millions of pounds spent on new acquisitions to the squad. Big money signings included Didier Drogba from Marseille and Arjen Robben, along with Petr Cech who has been a complete revelation since his arrival.

The lure of Chelsea and their millions was even great enough to bring the manager of the previous seasons Champions League victors FC Porto, to the club. Jose Mourinho was gently persuaded to sign up and he was viewed by many as the final piece of the jigsaw, in Chelsea's search for success. From the word go, he had a confident swagger and he certainly talked the talk. In his first press confidence, he assured the media and the footballing world, that he is already a 'great'. Perhaps it is this confidence that has been key to the success that he has brought to the club.

It is important to remember, that the very heart and soul of the current Chelsea side is British. More importantly, it is two English players who have played pivotal roles in propelling Chelsea to their current status. Frank Lampard, along with Claude Makalele, has made the centre of Chelsea's midfield very strong in defence and a huge threat on the attack. Lampard finds himself, or puts himself, in the most advanced of positions and he is often the furthest man forward and more often than not is the one who applies the finish. He still scores his trademark goals from around 20-25 yards out. The PFA player of the year, John Terry, has played an even bigger role, scoring 8 goals this season from central defence. His main contribution has come in the shape of bossing the Chelsea back four and making them tough to break down. They went for over 1200 minutes of Premiership football, without conceding a goal at one stage. Let’s also not forget Joe Cole, who at last seems to be finding his feet and is contributing all over the park.

The Champions League crown is the next challenge for Mourinho’s team, with the second leg of the semi final against Liverpool looming. They should clinch a victory, or a scoring draw at Anfield that would see them advance to the final where they should meet Italian giant AC Milan. It will be a tough game, a great watch for any football fan. Victory in the final in Istanbul at the end of May, would cap off what has been an already remarkable season for Chelsea. It would add to the League Cup triumph over Liverpool and the Premiership title.

A treble in Jose Mourinho’s first season, who would have thought it? There were those that said he would need time to settle into his new role and adapt to the English game, but it seems that they were wrong. It seems that all of the hype and build up he gave himself at the start of the season, has been justified. Yes, he has had a huge transfer budget at his disposal, but to overhaul Arsenal and Manchester United in such fashion has taken someone very special. He will want to win the Champions League this term and there will be nobody more disappointed than Jose Mourinho, if Chelsea fail to lift the trophy.

The question on many people’s minds is likely to be: where do Chelsea go next? Should they win the Champions League, they will have achieved things beyond their wildest dreams. The only thing that they can look towards is the domination of domestic and European affairs for many seasons to come. They certainly the ability to do so and Chief Executive Peter Kenyon has already said that he wants Mourinho to stay for another 10 years. I think that they will want to win the Premiership for two or three seasons in a row and the same for the Champions League. They will want to break long standing records and perhaps have a crack at Arsenal’s 50 game unbeaten run.

I do have slight concerns over what has gone on this season. I think that if Chelsea have three or fours years more dominance, then Abramovich will walk away from the club. He will have achieved all that he wants to and will move onto something else. He will eventually get bored with football and the fact that Chelsea keep winning. The other thing that worries me was the lack of competition that Chelsea faced from the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal. They never really had any challengers en-route to the title, only Arsenal put up a bit of resilience at the start of the campaign. It made for a huge anti climax, to what did promise to be an exciting title race at the start of the season. There is far more focus and excitement regarding the intense four-way relegation battle, than on the top of the league.

As for next season, I think we will see more of the same from Chelsea. They will make two big signings in my view. A right back and a striker, or an attacking midfielder who will interchange with Eidur Gudjohnsen, are the two areas that I think Mourinho will look to strengthen. I can see Mateja Kezman and Glen Johnson being the two casualties of this. I would also think that Mourinho will look to Mikel Forsell an active role in the side. He has a lot of promise and after coming back from injury he has looked good in the reserves. I think that Arsenal will get their act together and if they can find a partner for Henry, they will improve. Manchester Untied should also mount a much better challenge for the title, if they can get Rooney and van Nistelrooy playing together from the start of the season. They missed Rio Ferdinand when he was out, so his presence for a full season will also be an added bonus. I am going to stick my neck out and say that Chelsea will retain the Premiership next season and win the Champions League this time around.

Summary: