Are recent Chelsea wins a sign of a Blues comeback?

With the new 2023/24 season well underway, Chelsea fans are only recently being given something to celebrate after last season's disappointing 12th-place result. Eight games in, Pochettino’s squad has delivered three wins, two draws, and 3 losses, leaving them in 11^th place. Chelsea’s recent wins against Fulham and Burnley could be the spark needed for a top-four end.

Since last season, the Chelsea squad has changed a lot, with 15 players, including several main team players, most notably Azpilicueta, Havertz, Kante, Kovacic, Loftus Cheek, Mount, and Pulisic leaving and moving to other clubs permanently. With this, Chelsea signed 12 new players, most significantly, Jackson, Disasi and Sanchez. What is surprising though, is that the revamped squad still plays like the 2022/23 squad: creating mostly good attempts that have incredibly disappointing finishes. Even though Chelsea beat Fulham, the first 5 minutes of the game left fans frustrated as they watched Broja squander the chance to put the Blues ahead as he missed a shot at an open goal. Despite it being his first game back after injury, his wasted attempt is just one to add to the list that Chelsea fans have witnessed all season so far.

Even in the game where Chelsea lost 1-0 to Aston Villa, despite the Blues having better attempts in general, they still failed to come out on top after Disasi’s end-of-the-first-half goal was offside. What’s even worse is despite their better play, Aston Villa still had seven shots on target in comparison to Chelsea only having four. After Gusto received a red card and was sent off in the 58^th minute, Oli Watkins, Aston Villa’s striker, who had hardly touched the ball all game managed to make his shot count in the 73^rd minute, putting Aston Villa ahead. Games like these, especially when paired with other shocking losses like Chelsea’s 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forrest are vital 3-point opportunities given away for no lesser reason than a lack of confidence and conviction to win.

Chelsea’s most recent 4-1 victory over Burnley is a sign that Chelsea are ready to make a comeback. But the game itself shows both possibilities for the Blues: the first half showed that Chelsea could easily spend another season in the bottom ten as they didn’t have any drive to secure goals. The second half showed promise for a top-four end, as fans saw a passionate team working together, and the gameplay that followed was therefore remarkable. No more hesitation, it is time for Chelsea to show they didn’t just come to play but to win.