Football

Premier League team introductions: Chelsea with a big question mark and without a proper striker

Chelsea are probably the hardest club to read in the Premier League before the season. Two important stoppers have left, while new players have signed and even the experts don’t know what to expect. What kind of squad will the Blues go into the season with?

Published

2 years ago

9. 8. 2022

Eduard Nosek

The management team

Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea has confirmed his role as one of the most underrated coaches of our time. After six months with the team, he celebrated a Champions League triumph, and last season he won the Top 4 guaranteeing the Champions League, thus fulfilling his seasonal goal.

Goalkeepers

The situation in goal has been strange since the departure of Thibaut Courtois. The number one is Cameroonian Edouard Mendy, who had an excellent start to his new engagement but started to make quite a few mistakes last year.

Kepa Arrizabalaga, on the other hand, has improved his botched reputation with the fans and is a quality number two. However, he is in demand at other clubs.

Defenders

Tuchel has a tactic based on a three-defender system. It can’t miss Thiago Silva, who will be 38 years old in September and yet he is the mainstay of the team, which he proved with an excellent performance in the first leg against Everton.

The base is definitely attacked by the summer signing Kalidou Koulibaly, an extremely strong defender with an excellent jump. Captain César Azpilicueta is ideally suited to the role of right-back, who no longer has the speed and dynamism for a wing-back.

In any case, Azpilicueta won’t last the whole season, and there will be plenty of talent to fill in. Trevoh Chalobah was already gaining experience in the Ajax last year, Malang Sarr and Ethan Ampadu were guest appearances and didn’t do badly.

Midfielders

The wing-backs are obviously bright. Both represent England, Ben Chilwell plays on the left, Reece James on the right. James has definitely had a better last year, at one time he may have been the best right-back ever.

In the middle, Tuchel has his favourite pairing of Jorginho, Ngolo Kanté ready. At times there is a lack of creativity from their side, the Italian world champion benefiting a little from an excellent last year during which he established a place in the line-up.

The hard-working Mateo Kovacic can fill in for Jorginho, or Ruben Loftus Cheek or Billy Gilmour, and it’s a bit of a shame not to use star Conor Gallagher after an excellent last season. Marc Cucurella will alternate on both ends.

Forwards

The three-man attack is very variable, with the trio of players changing positions frequently, making it uncomfortable for the opposition. German international and the club’s second top scorer last season, Kai Havertz, will play the fake midfielder.

The other two teammates are again England representatives. On the left, fast dribbler and summer signing from Manchester City Raheem Sterling, Mason Mount will be withdrawing deep into the box from the right. Chelsea will simply switch to a 3-5-2 system.

Neat hitter Armando Broja, agile winger and one of the league’s fastest players Christian Pulisic, left-footed technician Hakim Ziyech and versatile Callum Hudson-Odoi will be ready to go on the bench.