While looking ahead to the new season, often expectations and predictions are marred with a clear bias. Every supporter thinks that either it’s their year or at the very least that they will fare better than one or more of their rivals. So rather than publishing Chelsea supporters’ views on their club, supporters of their rivals have shared their opinion on what they think of the Jose Mourinho’s side ahead of the new season
We have writers from our other Team Blogs giving their opinion on Louis Van Gaal’s side. Aakriti Mehrotra from Shankly’s Men (Liverpool), Jamie Rosbottom from The Invisible Men (Manchester City), Rishad Bharucha from Dial Square (Arsenal) and Rahul Natarajan from The Devil’s Advocate (Manchester United)
What are Chelsea’s objectives this season?
Aakriti (Shankly’s Men): Target the Premier League title and domestic titles along with reaching the final of the Champions League. Given Jose’s history, and the club’s amazing transfer business, they would be aiming to contend on all fronts. But winning the league would be a priority.
Rishad (Dial Square): Jose Mourinho will expect his squad to be serious challengers for the Premier League title this season and at the very least reach the last sixteen of the Champions League. Abramovich will also expect them to play attractive football en route to success this season, something he has desired over the years despite their trophy record.
Jamie (The Invisible Men): Premier league & Champions League trophies.
Rahul (The Devil’s Advocate): With the substantial-and smart- investment this summer, Chelsea will certainly target the league title. Bringing in established stars in their prime shows the determination to win and nothing less will be accepted.
How do you think Chelsea will do this season?
Aakriti (Shankly’s Men): Win the PL; a domestic cup; Semi-Final in the Champions League.
Rishad (Dial Square): 3rd place. Mourinho’s transfers seemed to have addressed Chelsea’s needs but they will need exceptional team chemistry to finish higher than third this season.
Jamie (The Invisible Men): They need to win the league or the champion’s league for Mourinho to still be in the job at the end of the season. They are favorites with the bookies but I disagree and think it all depends on whether Costa can perform like he did last season in La liga.
Rahul (The Devil’s Advocate): First. While on paper Manchester City seems equal, the nous and experience of Mourinho gives the Blues a massive advantage.
Who do you think will be Chelsea’s key player?
Aakriti (Shankly’s Men): Cesc Fabregas. He is determined, at the right age and well-acquainted with the Premier League. That double pivot will work wonders.
Rishad (Dial Square): Mourinho’s biggest letdown last season was that of his strikers’ performances. With the influential Frank Lampard’s departure however, the pressure will be on Cesc Fabregas to run the show and supply Diego Costa and potentially reignite Fernando Torres’ goal scoring form.
Jamie (The Invisible Men): Willian, I wasn’t so sure on him at first but I now think he’s a fantastic player who works tirelessly for the team, his second season at Chelsea could be a great one.
Rahul (The Devil’s Advocate): Diego Costa. I said at the end of last season’s summer transfer window that Chelsea will not win the league because they loaned out Lukaku. Well, they sold Lukaku now but have replaced him with arguably the best striker of last season. They fixed their biggest weakness in style and he will be the difference in those games of few chances that Chelsea struggled to win last year.
What is Chelsea’s biggest weakness?
Aakriti (Shankly’s Men): At present, I can’t think of one. They’ve resolved their striker issue too. But it would still have to be that. Drogba is not getting younger and Torres is Torres. They should get a back-up striker before the window closes.
Rishad (Dial Square): Whether Diego Costa settles in the Premier League is yet to be seen, so at the moment I think their strike force is still questionable. They have a proven backup in Didier Drogba, but question marks still linger over Fernando Torres.
Jamie (The Invisible Men): The only weakness I can see at the moment is the amount of goals they score per game. The Palace away & Villa away games last year proved pivotal in their title race. If Costa can get 30+ goals for them they will be hard to beat.
Rahul (The Devil’s Advocate): Possibly the most complete team on paper, but will the new signings hit the ground running? Oscar exhausted second half of the season as well.
What do you think of Jose Mourinho as a manager?
Aakriti (Shankly’s Men): He is a great coach to have but a despicable character for other fans. Would need to end the season with a Premier League or Champions League trophy, or he might lose the job.
Rishad (Dial Square): It is difficult to gauge Abramovich, who has changed managers as often as I’ve changed my socks between Mourinho’s two spells at Chelsea. This time around though I think he will be looking to give Mourinho a good amount of time.
Jamie (The Invisible Men): I believe the one big name who could lose his job would be Jose. Roman will not stand for another trophy-less season after the players they have bought this summer.
Rahul (The Devil’s Advocate): The best manager in the league, undoubtedly. Got his tactics spot on in the big games and now with Costa should snatch those 1-0 wins that they weren’t able to last season. But he will definitely be sacked if they don’t win the league this season.
Which young Talent Radar player do you see making the maximum impact?
Aakriti (Shankly’s Men): Lewis Baker (if he gets chances although I don’t see too many of them being there)
Rishad (Dial Square): There isn’t a player under 21 at Chelsea who could look to shake the team up. At twenty two years of age, Oscar will look to make up for a disappointing campaign for Brazil by making a stronger mark for Chelsea this season.
Jamie (The Invisible Men): Kurt Zouma known as the future of the French central defence Zouma was widely tipped to go out on loan but looks now like he is staying as back up to Cahill and Terry for next season.
Rahul (The Devil’s Advocate): In Kurt Zouma, Chelsea have signed one of the most exciting center back prospects. Perfect build and physique for the Premier League and will be a good option.
What do you think of Chelsea’s transfer activity?
Aakriti (Shankly’s Men): They’ve unsurprisingly spent a lot, but I think they’ve made the right buys. Filipe Luis is the signing of the season for me. He is one of the top 3, if not the best, left-backs in Europe. People argue that it is better to spend that sum on a younger player. But I don’t see anything wrong with Chelsea spending big for a player of such qualities.
Rishad (Dial Square): While Thibaut Courtois will be ‘like a new signing’ after spending so much time out on loan, filling Frank Lampard’s shoes will be important for Cesc Fabregas as he looks to make a successful return to the Premier League.
Jamie (The Invisible Men): Arguably the best transfer policy of the summer selling David Luiz to pay for a big chunk of the transfer fee’s for Fabregas and Costa.
Rahul (The Devil’s Advocate): Made all the right moves in fixing positions that needed to be fixed, signing players in their prime who are ready to compete. However, a grave mistake in bringing back Drogba at the expense of Lukaku.
Follow Aakriti on Twitter @Aakriti1, Rishad @RishadAFC, Jamie @JamieRosbottom and Rahul @nrahul11
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