WHICHEVER way you look at it, Chelsea’s Premier League season so far is a step backwards.
After 17 matches of the 2024/25 campaign, the Blues were in second place with 35 points – four points adrift of table-topping Liverpool, who had a game in hand which they went on to win.
But now Enzo Maresca’s side are fourth with 29 points, 10 points behind table-topping Arsenal.
Sometimes the fixture schedule can throw up some anomalies.
Yet if you compare Chelsea’s results with the equivalent fixtures last season – swapping newly-promoted Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland with equivalents Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton – they are also doing worse.
From the same games in 2024/5, Maresca’s men had 34 points.
Three of those extra points came from having a better record against the teams that came up from the Championship..
Although the Blues lost at Ipswich, they thrashed Southampton at home and won at Leicester. This season they have beaten Burnley, but lost to Sunderland and Leeds.
There is a perception Chelsea have done better this season in games against “bigger” clubs.
That is true in terms of performances, especially if you take into account the Champions League win over Barcelona.
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But in the Premier League so far, the Blues have the same yield of points from clashes with Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester United and Newcastle.
They have drawn at home to Arsenal, beaten Liverpool at Stamford Bridge and won at Spurs, just like last season.
Their 2-1 defeat at United in September compares to a draw there last season, but it is balanced by picking up a point at Newcastle with last weekend’s 2-2 draw, as opposed to last year’s 2-0 defeat.
It will be safer to judge how Maresca’s team compare with their main rivals after upcoming matches at home to Aston Villa and away at Manchester City.
So what is the explanation for the fall-off?
Injuries, and the niggles and fatigue that linger from the Club World Cup, are undoubtedly a key factor.
And the absence of talisman Cole Palmer appears particularly significant.
In their first 17 games, Chelsea have scored 29 goals, eight fewer than last season (while conceding 17, two fewer).
Although that tally exceeds their xG of 28.6, Palmer’s creativity and ice-cold temperament in front of goal have been missed.
The England star played all but 48 minutes of Chelsea’s opening 17 PL games last season, completing all 90 minutes 13 times, scoring 11 goals and providing six assists.
In this campaign Palmer has contributed just two goals, having been restricted to seven appearances and 369 minutes of action because of his persistent groin problem and a broken toe.
Pedro Neto and Joao Pedro are Chelsea’s joint-top PL scorers with five apiece.
Liam Delap’s misfortune with injury and the departure of Nicolas Jackson have left a lot of responsibility on Joao Pedro’s shoulders.
But the Brazilian himself is having to manage an injury, like Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez.
Maresca has been criticised by John Terry and others for over-rotating.
But he is doing it less than last season because the level of opposition in the Champions League is much higher than in the Conference League.
Although some fans and, at times, his bosses have found fault with the Blues boss, many feel he is doing a good job in the circumstances.
Qualifying again for Europe’s top competition is the minimum requirement.
Despite not matching their start to last season, Chelsea are on course to achieve that.
And if Palmer is available more often in the second half of the campaign, they can aspire to more.
HERE ‘WE’ GO
CHELSEA could have signed Antoine Semenyo for just £2MILLION six years ago, but he may not have gone on to become the player he has at Bournemouth.
But talk of the Ghanaian winger moving to the Blues has been rife this week after he revealed that he is actually a Chelsea supporter – and today that talk became something concrete.
In an episode of ‘Shirt Shopping’ on the AwayDays YouTube channel, Semenyo was challenged to make a selection of kits that he fancied taking home and adding to his collection.
One of those he picked was a retro Chelsea number, with Didier Drogba on the back.
When trying it on, he did Drogba’s signature celebration and added: “I was looking at the Champions League badge, it reminds me of the goal WE scored against Bayern.
“It’s perfect, I love it.”
Speaking about playing in the Champions League he quipped: “You know that video of Ronaldinho licking his lips, I’d do it, one day, hopefully…”
He may not be a player that necessarily fits Chelsea’s usual strategy – being aged 25, and having invested in wing players already, but they are interested in bringing him to Stamford Bridge.
But with a January release clause of £60m, plus £5m in add-ons, Chelsea may fancy beating Manchester United, Man City, Spurs, and Liverpool to his signing.
ENZO THE EDUCATOR
EVERY day’s a school day, and Enzo Fernandez accidentally gave English speakers an education on Monday night.
During a half-hour, online Q&A session with fans around the world on The Residency app, the Argentinian World Cup winner was asked what his best position was.
The answer, when automatically translated, came back as “offensive steering wheel”. I’m sorry, what?
But if you look up the Spanish for “steering wheel”, you come to the word “volante”.
And if you look up the connection between “volante” and football, you discover another Argentinian international who played in Europe in the 1930’s..
Midfielder Carlos Martin Volante had spells in Italy and France, winning Serie B with Livorno and reaching the French cup final with a fabled Rennes team.
Volante was hired by the Brazil team as a masseur at the 1938 World Cup held in France and ended up joining Flamengo.
He made such an impression that the position of defensive midfielder, and the particular way he played it, became known in Brazil, then across South America, as a “volante”.
The term describes an all-action deeper-lying central midfielder who does defensive work but also links play to the attack by covering large amounts of ground.
There are different kinds of “volante” and Fernandez clearly regards himself as a more attacking version.
During the Q&A, Fernandez agreed Chelsea midfield partner Moises Caicedo was the best six in the world and revealed Marc Cucurella was the Chelsea player he was closest to.
But is Cole Palmer the best player at the club?
“He’s very good,” was Fernandez’s diplomatic reply.
He named Argentina team-mate Julian Alvarez as his favourite player to watch at the moment.
But Fernandez, after nearly three years in England, is going a bit native.
When asked who his favourite singer was, he said he liked many but specifically mentioned Central Cee, a British rapper from Shepherds Bush, who is also a Chelsea fan.
And when given the easy question of whether London was red or blue, he responded: “Blueeeeeeeee.”
MARESCA’S DIG
ENZO MARESCA again appeared to take another thinly veiled dig at his Chelsea bosses ahead of their trip to Newcastle on Saturday.
The Chelsea boss, in an interview with former Blues player Joe Cole, was asked about having experienced players – having never used a player over the age of 28 since joining the club.
He said: “When you have a 20, 21 [year-old] and a player 30, 31 [years old], and he starts to say something, it’s invaluable.
“But it’s the strategy of the club.”
However, unlike his recent cryptic comments, they have not been viewed with scorn from within Stamford Bridge.
Maresca has, in the past, defended the policy of signing younger players and spoken about being pleased with the squad he has.
The Italian has also said before that defeats have not been about a lack of experience, citing a mistake by Tosin Adarabioyo, his oldest player, against Leeds as a prime example of this.
Blues bosses and fans are now waiting and watching to see if Maresca finally draws a line under the bizarre stand-off he has caused.
While the manager has spoken with the sporting directors – although, apparently, not to discuss his comments about a lack of support, co-owner Behdad Eghbali has been out of the country since it all started following the win over Everton and the two are not thought to have spoken yet.
The American owner, who regularly attends games and chats with Maresca after is expected back at Stamford Bridge over the festive fixtures.
DUBAI OLI AND DAVE
WINNING silverware bonds players together for life – and one eagle-eyed Files reader was witness to this in Dubai.
Spotted at the Atlantis Aquaventure World water park in Dubai? Chelsea Champions League winners Olivier Giroud and Cesar Azpilicueta.
Giroud and former skipper Azpilicueta were teammates the year the Blues won the biggest trophy in Europe under Thomas Tuchel in 2021.
Azpilicueta is now playing at Spanish club Sevilla having left Atletico Madrid last summer while Giroud, who made a recent appearance on our screens for Monday Night Football, is back in Europe with Lille.
MESSI CUP VERDICT
THE BLUES will be satisfied with their Messi Cup performance, where some of their most talented youngsters shone in Miami.
Unfortunately, last week, they exited the competition earlier than they would’ve liked, finishing fourth overall.
Having been beaten by eventual winners River Plate in the semi-finals, the Blues u16 side faced off against Manchester City in a 3rd place match and were beaten 2-1.
But despite perhaps an unfortunate end, Chelsea showed exactly what they were about and showcased some of the best young talents on the planet, a few of whom will surely have bright futures in the Premier League.
Reggie Watson was probably the player who took most of the headlines, as revealed in the Chelsea files two weeks ago, but another who played exceptionally was Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli, who is highly rated already by Cole Palmer and multiple others at Chelsea.
The young Heze Grimwade also had some great moments, as did striker Andrew Pennie.
