Chelsea Preview/Prediction - 2014/2015 season

A look Ahead... Chelsea 2014/15

As you guys/girls have probably guessed, the next team we'll be going through in the 'A look Ahead' series will be Chelsea. In the last decade or so, there's no arguing that Chelsea have always been near top of the tree when it comes to Premier League. Under Mourinho and several managers they have employed remarkably, they have always been a team to never underestimate. Their home record of only losing one game in a number of seasons is frankly remarkable and just shows how resilient they have always been. This upcoming season more than any they have taken part in before, they will have to be resilient and on guard when they are playing the best teams.

The reasoning behind saying that Chelsea will have to be on guard is simply because of the players that are leaving and coming in to the club and also how the other top teams and strengthening with new players and managers. Last season when Mourinho returned to Chelsea was a dream scenario for all Chelsea fans; they all knew that under Mourinho they would see nearly every-single game won which did in fact happen last season. However I think for Mourinho it'll be a test to see whether again they can challenge the best in the Premier League and Champions league with a team that looks different from last years. With this in mind, the biggest factor going with that is the team selection and which players play in the different games.

Probably one of the biggest decisions that Mourinho has to make when he is choosing his team is who will play the 'Number 1' role in the Goal.

Who would you pick?

It's a nice selection to pick out from Thibaut Courtois and Petr Cech considering that if one of them has an injury concern, then it's a nice replacement for one of them to step in. However picking one of them to become the main guy in Goal is something I wouldn't want to make. However, I think Mourinho will favour in picking Courtois since he has been playing well for Athletico Madrid for the past two years and has the potential to become one of the best goalkeepers in the world. On the other side of the spectrum, Cech is a player that is peeking his goalkeeping powers and will probably be on the bench for the majority of this season. 

Kurt Zouma - the next best thing?

Moving into the defence of Chelsea and there some positives/concerns over the defenders that did leave and the ones that have come in. Personally I think the releasing of David Luiz and Ashley Cole was a huge call to make and decision that I think could bite Mourinho some time during the season. Luiz is especially a big miss since last year he was one of the big players/leaders to have in the Chelsea. Yes he is player that was really reckless and came out to the attacker rather than sit back; but the releasing of him is huge considering he had other great qualities such Free-kick taking and Long balls to compensate his reckless defensive attitude. As for Ashley Cole, I think the way Mourinho replaced that poisition with another Brazillian international David Luis who played for Athletico Madrid last season was a smart move. Cole who didn't make it into the England squad for this Summer's World Cup and didn't regularly play much football last season just shows how his football capacity has indeed reached it's limit. The good thing about Chelsea's full back positions is how every-player situated in these positions can play either side comfortably which again shows the change that Mourinho has done since he has arrived back. The only thing that i'm disappointed at is the loaning off of Betrand to Southampton. Bertrand who played in a Champions League final isn't considered for a regular spot is really surprising since he has the capability to become a decent wing-back. As for the Centre-Back position, even though he is captain, I don't think Terry will play all the games this season since he is also reaching his peak and I personally would play the young Kurt Zouma who is dubbed as another world class Centre-Back from many football experts.

The Midfield of Chelsea as far as I'm concerned really doesn't need going into detail really other than Fabregas coming in who is really an ideal replacement for the ageing Lampard who has gone to Man City on Loan for a few months. We all know that Fabregas will done just fine for Chelsea since he was already a qaulity player for Arsenal a few years ago and has learnt the passing traits of Iniesta and Xavi. As for the rest of Midfield, it's easy to predict that it'll be same kind of players such Hazard, Oscar and Willian playing behind the lone striker. Even though I think he should be given his chance this season to show everyone what he can do, I think Josh McEachran won't be seeing a first team opportunity due to the amount of players and talent they have already in the palm of their hands.

Last but not least we have the lone striker role where like the defensive positions, their are some ups and downs with this singular position. The negative is of course letting Lukaku go back to Everton which I think is really bad business and could also pose as huge bite in the ass for Mourinho. There is also the issue of the strikers that have been brought in with the likes of Diego Costa and already Chelsea legend Drogba. The problem I have with Costa is that he is really unpredictable; on some days he can go off like a wild-fire and burn down defences with his capability of striking a ball into the net and on others he is just not motivated and a good example of this is when he was playing for Spain at the World Cup. If he doesn't get into that mood of killing a game very early on in the season, then I see another long and hard season for Chelsea. Drogba on the other hand is a player who has already played in the Premier League so in terms of getting used to game should be a piece of cake for the likes of him. Obviously Drogba can't play a lot of game in a row so really Chelsea up-front have to rely on two Spaniards; one who is just a talantless-twat and another who is unpredictable which leads me to my observation...

Overall I see Chelsea's season going the same way last season went. Eventually the strikers that they do have in possession will lack in performance and it'll be up to the midfield players of Oscar, Fabregas and Hazard to step and score for them which I think will take it's toll of the those players specifically and will cost them in terms of where they will finish in both the League and in Europe. Like Last year they will ultimately lose out on the title and come close to winning a domestic trophy.

My Chelsea team using 4-2-3-1

                                                                         Courtois

                                         Cahill                                                       Zuma

Azpilicueta                                                                                                                   Luis

                                                  Ramires                       Fabregas

Hazard                                                             Oscar                                            Schurrle

                                                                   Diego Costa

Sub: Cech, Terry, Matic, Drogba, Willian, Ivanovic, Salah