A Season to Forget for Chelsea FC

Chelsea FC have been a staple of the 'Big Six' of the premier league since Roman Abramovich's takeover of the club in 2003. With 5 Premier League titles, 5 FA cups, 2 Champions Leagues, 2 Europa League titles and many other trophies from various domestic and global tournaments, Chelsea have become a globally respected side with a strong reputation. However, the disruption caused by the introduction of new ownership has put an unprecedented fear into the Blues and their fans.

Todd Boehly took over the club in May 2022 for a supposed fee of £4.25 billion, the highest bidder for the Blues in a contested battle after the forced sale of the club due to the links between Abramovich and Vladmir Putin. Boehly is the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the MLB and has held that role since 2012, so professional sport ownership is not a new endeavour. Boehly was appointed chairman of the board as well as interim sporting director of Chelsea after the resignation of Bruce buck in June 2022. With planned investment planned for facilities and young players and the financial comfort to support these plans, everything looked set to continue under the American.

Chelsea's prior season concluded to a 3rd place finish, a Club World Cup win and runners up in both the FA Cup and Carabao cup, both due to penalty shootout losses against Liverpool. This didn't match the success of the 2020/21 season where Tuchel led his men to a Champions League win over Manchester City but was by no means a failure for a club of Chelsea's size. The Blues were 19 points away from Champions Manchester City so the aim for this current season would be to close the gap and have a stronger fight towards reclaiming the Premier League title, which hadn't been lifted at Stamford Bridge since the 2016/17 season.

Issues rose for the club when the account were frozen late into the 21/22 season due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the discovered link between Abramovich and the Russian government. The frozen accounts led to players such as Christensen, Rudiger and Alonso to leave the club as free agents as well as a greater stress to be put on extending players' contracts as soon as possible after finances were settled. Boehly stepped into his role and had the pressure of replacing players and also members of staff who believed that the club needed a complete new start.

Boehly showed his intent straight away when the transfer window open by spending a combined £81 million on Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly before we had even reached August. Time continued to pass and new faces continued to enter and by the end of the window, Chelsea saw 7 new players enter the dressing room for the new season and waved goodbye to 7 first team stars as well as multiple youth prospects. Substantial fees for Boehly acquisitions left Chelsea having spent a final bill of £254 million, over a £140 million increase on the season prior. Stars such as Cucurella and Fofana were both viewed as strong replacements for the defensive losses and Aubameyang filled the role of a 'traditional' number 9 which the Blues lacked for the season.

Tuchel's management of the Blues lasted 7 competitive games, ending after the shock loss to Dinamo Zagreb in the opening fixture of the Champions League group. With wins at Everton and against Leicester and West Ham, a draw against Tottenham due to a last minute Harry Kane goal and deserved defeats to Southampton and Leeds, Boehly saw an end to Tuchel's contract and looked for a 'long-term project manager'. Boehly turned to Brighton manager Graham Potter who had won 6 of his opening 7 fixtures at Brighton and took the Seagulls to a convincing 9th place finish the season before. Potter started the jump well with a 9 game unbeaten streak, containing back to back wins in the Champions League against AC Milan and an agonising draw at home against Manchester United. A heavy loss to Potter's former side led to just 1 win and 4 losses leading into the World Cup break.

Injuries and lack of fitness due to the World Cup had Chelsea marching into their first game on return without their star keeper Edouard Mendy and a horrific injury in a pre-season friendly left Armando Broja waving goodbye to the rest of his first season in the Chelsea first team. Inconsistency continued for Chelsea with only 2 wins between the return and the end of the January window.

Chelsea's participation in the January transfer window was a highly discussed topic for the whole month and the months following. Extortionate spending continued with £242 million being spent up front as well as the loan signing of Joao Felix. The spending brought in strong youth talents such as Benoit Badiashile, Mykhaylo Mudryk, Noni Madueke and Enzo Fernandez. Even with reinforcements, the inconsistency of Potter's reign at Chelsea continued. Fans were left chanting during multiple games for previous manager Thomas Tuchel and also wondering whether Potter made the jump too soon.

Progression into the knockout stage of the Champions League helped fill fans with some senses of confidence but Chelsea's league position continued to tumble as hopes of European football dwindled away. Potter's men got past Borussia Dortmund in the round of 16 in the Champions League after a much improved second leg performance but were drawn to play current holders Real Madrid. Potter never was able to reach the next round of the competition as he was sacked on April 3rd 2023 after a disappointing performance and loss to Aston Villa. With the recent sackings of Julian Nagelsmann and Antonio Conte and free agent managers such as Zinedine Zidane and Mauricio Pochettino, fans were excited to see who Chelsea would appoint to succeed Graham Potter.

However, the shock appointment of Chelsea legend Frank Lampard left fans worried about the potential ending to an already disappointing season. Lampard's temporary tenure at Chelsea has watched the club fall into the bottom half of the table as well as out of European football. 1 goal in 4 matches and not a single win in these fixtures has put Chelsea in a possible relegation fight. With 7 games to go, the Blues sit 12 points safe from relegation with a tough run-in for the end of the season. Trips to the Emirates, the Etihad and Old Trafford are on the horizon as well as welcoming Newcastle and Brentford to the bridge. 2 relegation candidates in Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest are Chelsea's best hopes of gaining points to avoid a record low in the 21st century and a possible trip to the championship.

Improvements for Chelsea next season are essential both in the dressing room and in the office. A permanent manager will be Boehly's first intention with squad improvements following closely. Pre-agreed transfers of Malo Gusto and Christopher Nkunku are set to join in the new season but sales will be just as important as signings. Thiago Silva recently spoke in an interview after the second leg loss to Real Madrid, stating that the squad size and constant additions have been a detriment to the squad due to the balance and control of a large squad. Chelsea fans will be looking for major changes to the squad and for Todd Boehly to have the spending match the results.