London is Blue Dispatch #025

At the start of this year the club were 10^th. At the end of it, they’re still 10th, and yet, nothing is the same. By the end of last summer, the whole Champions League winning midfield had departed the club, as had the scorers and assistors of every goal in the two legs of the semi-finals and the final. The side that started last night’s game had none of those that started the night in Porto. It was the youngest XI a PL side has put out in 6 years, the eighth youngest in the history of the Premier League. The change has been seismic. The aftershocks are still felt in every game.

At one point in the 2^nd half last night, the backline’s rest defense consisted of 39-year-old Thiago Silva in the middle, man-of-the-match Malo Gusto at left centerback and Chelsea debutant, Alfie Gilchrist at right centerback – a poetic metaphor of what this season has been, good players in strange roles, experience anchoring buoyant youth. Gusto’s shift to the opposite flank after a standout first half may have drawn groans, but he kept an eye on Olise more diligently than the subbed pair of Colwill and Badiashile had, blocking a goal-bound shot towards the end of the game with a lunge. Gilchrist reveled in his cameo, applauding his teammates, cheering every foul won and charging into Palace players with the reckless abandon that JT was never a stranger to.

This past month-and-a-half has summed up this young side and Pochettino’s identity crisis in high definition. Against City, Newcastle and Brighton, they were happy without the ball (possession was 45, 46 and 32 respectively) focusing on a chaotic, transition-rich style that made his Spurs side tough for the big sides. They bruised the Champions and scored four against them, the first side in forever to do so. They also scored nearly a third of their league goals in those three games, however they also shipped more than a third of their season’s goals conceded (10/29.). After a chastising defeat against United, Poch went the other way, prioritizing safety and control but sacrificing his side’s attacking strengths. In the last five games, Chelsea’s possession stats read 71, 78, 78, 68 and 63. Caicedo and Gallagher have excelled in nullifying vulnerabilities to transitions in smaller spaces. However, we’ve now managed only 6 goals in five, conceding six. Poch must have ached for stable, middle ground.

The first half of the Palace game showed glimpses of how things might look when it all comes together. Pochettino’s employed his box midfield from preseason, employing the same front four as the game vs Newcastle. With 68% of the ball, Chelsea nullified Olise and Eze’s threat (for 45 minutes at least) and created four big chances. Mudryk Jackson and even Maatsen looked rejuvenated in the presence of Nkunku, who wove loose strands of the attack together with his intricate footwork. It could have been game over at half-time, but when has this season been THAT easy?  

By the time Madueke came on, each of the front four had missed a big chance to score. There was not a single shot on target for 22 minutes, and the approaching new year evoked the same old existential dread. And just like Petrovic signalled his arrival with a disdainful slap of a penalty in the shootout win vs Newcastle, in came Noni Madueke, who did not play a single minute of preseason, was chastised for partying during his recovery and was linked with a move away within a year. He earned and dispatched a seventh penalty of the season, a league high, to earn Chelsea a derby win.

As the year winds down, there were more than a few reasons to believe that a torrid year will finally be left behind. Mykhailo Mudryk is not the same player trying to slalom past 3 defenders in a low block. Against Palace, he showed significantly better judgement in every action. In the 9^th minute, he left Clyne tasting dust, tore diagonally through the center and placed an outrageous throughball on the move for Jackson. Minutes later, he popped up in the six yard box, where he seldom has, to finish Gusto’s fine cutback. Nine minutes after that, he almost latched on to Jackson’s fantastic flick into the box and grabbed his first brace.

Romeo Lavia finally strolled about the Stamford Bridge green. He looked understandably rusty, and went off with a thigh issue, but will hopefully be back soon to delegate in Enzo’s absence. Jackson, despite missing a hateful of big chances, is on the same number of goals as Victor Osimhen, who has two penalties in his seven. There were some bright moments, blighted by a glorious chance he missed. Before he realized his goal was offside, a poignant image of him on his knees pointing to the heavens as the fans applauded him in the backdrop. Poch, for all his eccentric selections, trusted Maatsen with a start, brought on Madueke before trusting him with the pressure penalty and even brought on an academy debutant.

Nkunku’s debut start was a sight for sore eyes. Blue balloons are hopefully not too far away. With the fixture list till the start of February reading, Luton, Preston, Middlesbrough, Fulham and Middlesbrough, there will not be a better time to build momentum and start the turnaround in earnest. Is the tide turning? I think so.