Injuries, Maresca’s decisions and questionable transfers? Assessing Chelsea’s underwhelming start to the season | OneFootball

Seven games into the new season, Chelsea are not where they would want to be.

The Blues sit sixth in the Premier League table, having won just two of their opening five league games.

But why has the start to the season been worse than many would have expected? Can it all be blamed on the Club World Cup, or is there more to it?

Club World Cup fatigue and injuries

Chelsea were one of only two Premier League clubs, alongside Manchester City, who were present at FIFA’s revamped Club Wold Cup tournament in the USA over the summer.

It meant that while the other 18 Premier League clubs, including the Blues’ competitors such as Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham were able to have at least six weeks off, Enzo Maresca and his players were only able to take two weeks off after the tournament, and only returned to training a couple of weeks before the Premier League started.

They did, of course, win the tournament, beating PSG 3-0 in style, which would have gone some way to making up for the burden of the event, but the physical strain on the players cannot be underestimated.

That strain has been shown by Chelsea’s early injuries.

Levi Colwill picked up an ACL injury only days after Chelsea began training for the new season. The English centre-half played 38 games for Chelsea last term, then flew out with England for a camp and two games, before going straight to the FIFA tournament and playing five games there.

Cole Palmer, Chelsea’s best and most important player, has had issues with a groin injury since the season began. The forward started the opening league game against Crystal Palace, before missing two games and returning against Brentford. He played in that game and against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, but was taken off after 20 minutes against Manchester United because of the persistent problem.

Palmer played 52 times for Chelsea last campaign, including the Club World Cup. It cannot be purely coincidental that Colwill and Palmer – two players who played among the most minutes in the squad – have now picked up serious injuries.

Enzo Maresca and Cole Palmer (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Colwill is Chelsea’s best centre-back and a huge defensive miss, but if Palmer is to miss large parts of the season he is almost irreplaceable. He scored 18 goals and registered 13 assists last term.

And it’s not just those two. Dario Essugo, Benoit Badiashile, Romeo Lavia and Liam Delap are all players who played in the summer tournament and now find themselves injured.

Tactical issues and individual errors

Despite clear issues that have arisen as a result of the heavy workload on the players, not all of Chelsea’s shortcomings can be attributed to that.

On paper, the Blues had a very favourable start to the season. Crystal Palace, West Ham, Fulham and Brentford as the first four league games.

To take eight points from those games is a disappointment. Chelsea would have expected to beat Palace at home, and they would also expect to beat 17th place Brentford, who have lost their two best players and their manager.

It’s not only the results that were disappointing but the performances were too. Chelsea were lacklustre against Palace, could and perhaps should have gone behind against Fulham, and were sloppy and defensively poor against Brentford.

The Brentford game was four days before Chelsea’s trip to the Allianz Arena, and Enzo Maresca opted for an experimental side. Jamie Gittens and Facundo Buonanotte started, whilst Jorrel Hato debuted in defence, and looked overwhelmed.

The game required the late substitutions of Palmer and Alejandro Garnacho to see Chelsea score twice, and they still conceded in the last minute.

Fans were curious as to why Maresca chose to give two players their full debuts, Buonanotte and Hato, a decision which backfired.

And things seem to have gone downhill since that last minute equaliser that Brentford’s Fabio Carvalho inflicted on them.

They were well beaten against Bayern Munich before disaster struck against Manchester United.

Robert Sanchez’s daft decision to take out Bryan Mbeumo in the fifth minute and reduce the Blues to ten men was costly, but so were Maresca’s ensuing decisions.

The Italian made three substitutions immediately following the red card. Palmer was an enforced one, but Estevao and Pedro Neto were also taken off. Three forward players left the pitch, and no forward players came on, leaving only one attacker, Joao Pedro, on the pitch.

Fans were baffled at Maresca’s defensive substitutions, and United scored twice before the end of the first half anyway. Chelsea eventually got one back in the 80th minute, but it was too little, too late.

Maresca said after the game: “All the game changed after the red card, all the planning and everything, it doesn’t exist anymore.”

While that might be true, part of a manager’s job is to be reactive to in-game events. Those quotes, and Maresca’s substitutions, were concerning.

After three games without a win and in need of some positivity, a Carabao Cup game against League One side Lincoln City seemed timely.

Maresca fielded a fairly strong side with several regulars starting. Chelsea prevailed 2-1, but Lincoln were the better team in the first half and went ahead in the game. It took a brilliant strike from George and a first goal from Buonanotte for the Blues to avoid a Manchester United v Grimsby style embarrassment.

Questionable transfer strategy

Chelsea’s transfer strategy is something that predates Maresca and was implemented when Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital took control of the club in May 2022.

The ownership and sporting directors have always had a youth-led approach in the transfer market, aiming to sign the best young talent from around the world before they become renowned stars.

The strategy made sense in the early years. Chelsea had an ageing squad and players like Jorginho, Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger and many others needed replacing.

There was also a period of grace for the new owners and sporting directors. They had to get their feet under the table and work things out.

Failed transfers like Mykhailo Mudryk, Joao Felix, Axel Disasi, Badiashile and others were to be anticipated. But with investment comes expectation.

Now the ownership have been in place for three years and spent £1.5 billion. So rightly, the expectations for the club have increased. While they have had some success, winning the Conference League, Club World Cup and qualifying for the Champions League last season, fans expect a Premier League title challenging team. Not necessarily title winning, but title challenging.

Chelsea made some questionable decisions this summer. Letting go of Noni Madueke and signing Gittens and Garnacho does not appear an improvement.

Chelsea winger Alejandro Garnacho (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Hato may become a brilliant defender. But he is not currently, and so does not make a massive impact on Chelsea’s hopes in the immediate future.

After Colwill got injured, Maresca emphasised the need for a new centre-back signing. There was still almost a month left of the window but nothing was done.

So is it any surprise that with mounting injuries and young players such as Gittens and Hato who do not seem ready, as yet, for the top level of the Premier League, Chelsea are having a mixed season so far?

How they move forward

Maresca will no doubt to continue to carefully manage his squad to try to avoid injuries, but he must hope his young signings can quickly reach the level required if squad rotation is not to hamper the team too much.

Chelsea will have minimum expectations of qualifying for the knockout rounds of the Champions League and at the very least finishing in the top four. A domestic cup win would help matters but overall, there has to be clear signs of progress towards become a title contending team.

The transfer strategy has to change, that is clear. Chelsea need world-class players, not potentially world-class players. But they may have to endure an underwhelming season before they get another go at improving.