Whisper it, but Chelsea might be starting to get it right. On Monday they hammered Tottenham Hotspur 4-1. While cynics would point to the fact that Spurs finished that game with nine men, you can only beat what is in front of you. Ange Postecoglou set up his depleted side in an unconventional high press and Nicolas Jackson sprung the trap three times to log a hat-trick.
The signs have been there for a little while that Chelsea were starting to put it all together. A 2-0 loss to Brentford at the end of October clouded that perception. But their 2-2 draw with last season’s runners-up Arsenal was promising. Before that came a 1-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion in the EFL Cup, a 2-0 win over local rivals Fulham and a 4-1 hammering of Burnley.
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Mauricio Pochettino has struggled to knit his expensively assembled squad together. That perception has taken hold to such a degree that nobody seems to have noticed Chelsea are improving. They remain a lowly 10th at this early stage of the Premier League season. But the performances are starting to harbour a little more confidence.
The story of the Spurs game afterwards was the two red cards and Postecoglou’s press. But the Chelsea of earlier in the season would have laboured under the expectation of facing a team with nine men. They would have been outfoxed by Tottenham’s unconventional bravery. But instead, they found out how to exploit Spurs’ tactical switch and benefited to the tune of three further goals.
Nicolas Jackson was the primary beneficiary. The striker has been an unwitting victim of the way the Todd Boehly/Clearlake Capital ownership does business. Jackson was signed having played just 35 top flight games, scoring 12 goals in those for Villarreal last season. But because of the £32 million fee and Chelsea’s need for a starting centre forward, he was not able to be viewed as a “potential” signing. Instead, the much-hyped Jackson has been expected to hit the ground running.
This is the wider Chelsea approach. Spend big on young players with their best work still ahead of them. The fees involved mean fans expect the world from them and understandably so. But the club is paying the high-ticket fees to make sure other clubs don’t get these players. The prices aren’t a reflection of the current ability level of these footballers.
This has been an issue throughout Boehly’s ownership tenure. They have tried to establish a new model when it comes to recruitment. It is often viewed as a scattergun approach but that appears to be by design. Chelsea cast their net far and wide, bringing in dozens of players for high fees. They amortise these deals over long contracts in what amounts to an investment in long-term potential.
The fact they sold a raft of recently-bought players in the summer suggests it hasn’t always worked. Last season’s 12th-placed finish would indicate the same. But after a poor start to this season, manager Mauricio Pochettino seems to have worked out what he has in that crowded dressing room. The results are starting to come, even if setbacks like Brentford are not yet a thing of the past.
Chelsea’s mini-revival will get its most robust test this weekend. On Sunday, Chelsea welcome treble winners Manchester City to Stamford Bridge. Confidence gleaned from their London derby victory only gets you so far. This is as tough as it gets in the Premier League.
While Chelsea are a team of expensively-assembled relative strangers, City’s own moneybags operation has grown together over a number of years. While Chelsea do an extensive squad re-fit every summer, City merely add gleaming new parts to their high-performance motor. If anything as esoteric as a cohesion advantage exists in football, City certainly have it on Sunday.
If Chelsea lose, their improvements will be dismissed. But should they be? Manchester City are far and away the best side in this league. Pep Guardiola has been there long enough to embed an identity and the squad is almost a bespoke rendering of his tactical desires. Pochettino has not yet been afforded that as he sorts through the wreckage of Boehly’s explosive spending. The Argentine has only been in the job since the summer. These are two clubs meeting at completely different points on their trajectory. If Chelsea do lose, it is a setback not a disaster. And they have already proved this season that they can get back to winning ways after a setback.
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