The Premier League's wild rovers? So who's sniggering at Chelsea now?
Celebrates Their Put Unexpected Sunday’s At Team Made: Fernandez, Mates On Enzo Notice Centre, Chelsea Cucurella, Over
brentford Marc Bridge
THERE was a time when the distances travelled by footballers were Hollywood glamorous.
Nearly 50 years ago, when two Argentinian World Cup-winning stars completed an unlikely transfer to Tottenham Hotspur, supporters marvelled that they had travelled 11,000 kilometres from one continent to another to ply their trade More than 10,000 turned up to see Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa limber up at the Spurs training ground in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire.
How distant those days seem, if not quite caught in sepia. Now it is the fans who make epic journeys of their own.
Last week hundreds of Chelsea supporters trekked 14,000 km round trip to see their team perform against Astana on the Kazakhstan border with China in a game watched by 20,000 where temperatures dropped to minus 10. While the club did not exactly strike a medal for them, everyone was given an inscribed key ring carrying the words from a stock Chelsea anthem “Over Land and Sea.”
The week before, after highly satisfactory away wins at Southampton and the ancient enemy at White Hart Lane, a song went up which many thought may never be heard again.
“We’ve got our Chelsea back” sang happy fans after 30 months of political turmoil which appeared on several occasions to threaten the existence of the 120-year-old club, That this was followed by chants for the deposed billionaire Roman Abramovich may offer some sense of the residual resentment many still feel over the behaviour of British politicians towards their club. But while arguments over the contribution of Abramovich to the contemporary world situation could fill many pages, what can’t be denied is that Chelsea have achieved a remarkable turnaround with no thanks to Westminster.
For many months the club was the butt of mirth, ridicule and sanctimonious finger-wagging. “Billion pound bottle jobs” proclaimed Gary Neville. Jamie Carragher sneered at the work of the club’s outstanding academy before being forced to retract.
But praising Chelsea is trendy now, even though it comes through gritted teeth. “It’s Chelsea — chaotic Chelsea, with their preposterous distended squad, treading a PSR tightrope — who look the relentless winners, a plot twist that nobody saw coming’’ wrote one of the game’s leading commentators this week.
During the post-Abramovich era, under the private equity control of the American Clearlake Capital, Chelsea have sacked four managers — the mercurial but popular Thomas Tuchel; the over-promoted Graham Potter; the caretaker Frank Lampard. The fourth of those was Mauricio Pochettino, an initially divisive figure because of his North London background, but someone who most supporters were prepared to back for another season.
The Argentinean showed no real enthusiasm for continuing and his detractors point to a lack of winning mentality and two, searingly disappointing, performances against Liverpool in the League Cup Final and a limp 5-0 surrender to Arsenal at the Emirates.
After initial uncertainty about his replacement — Brentford’s Thomas Frank was the other close candidate for the role — Enzo Maresca moved from Leicester, inherited a Pochettino squad bristling with potential, and, with the notable exception of a feeble performance at Newcastle in the Carabao Cup, has delivered to date.
Chelsea are the form team having won more Premier League games than any other side since mid-March, picking up 61 points in that time. If they can win at Everton on Sunday, never a given for them at Goodison Park, they will top the table, however temporarily, for the first time since Abramovich was sanctioned out of the Fulham Road.
They are the leading goalscorers in the top tier scoring 66 times in 25 games across all competitions, already 16 more goals than they managed in their entire 50-match campaign of 2022-23. They have hit the net 37 times in the Premier League with an average of 2.66 goals per game. Bookies have slashed their odds from 25/1 at the start of the season to 7/2 placing them behind Liverpool (4/5) and Arsenal (10/3).
Chelsea have already qualified for the final 16 of the Conference League and, while there is criticism that their inclusion distorts the competition, it should be remembered that they qualified for the Europa Cup by dint of league position and were only bumped because of Manchester United’s unexpected FA Cup victory over Manchester City. A win Thursday night will ensure they finish on top of the table. Shamrock Rovers will qualify automatically if they win.
Even the women’s team, who lost their hugely successful manager Emma Hayes to the United States, have charged on under their new boss, the steely Sonia Bompastor. They stand top of the WSL, and top of their group in the Women’s Champions League after beating Real Madrid on Tuesday night at the Estadio Alfredo di Stéfano.
There are a number of reasons why Chelsea are a popular watch this season, and many of them are founded in the appeal of Cole Palmer whose 33 goals and 18 assists in 68 games have turned him into a Stamford Bridge favourite in the same league as Jimmy Greaves, Gianfranco Zola, and Eden Hazard.
His image stares down from Tube station posters strategically selected near the grounds of London rivals. Against the odds he has become a fashion icon, with Burberry promoting him for product campaigns alongside Olivia Colman, Barry Keoghan, Little Simz and Cara Delevigne.
His nine-minute YouTube advert, showing him fishing and doing very little else except a duffel coat garnered the most views. Other compilations demonstrating his “ordinary lad” persona — Palmer failing to understand interview questions, standing open-mouthed or giving relatively basic answers — have reached over three million views. They even have their own search term: Palmer Core.
While he is the undoubted star of Chelsea, he won’t be playing against Shamrock Rovers, and neither will the other in-form mainstays of the team: Moisés Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, Levi Colwell and Nicolas Jackson. There may be some minutes for Romeo Lavia and Joao Felix, both returning from injury, but the only first-team regular certain to start will be Marc Cucurella who misses this weekend’s trip to Merseyside because of suspension.
The speedy Ukrainian Mykhailo Mudryk, who has played well in the Conference, will not be on show after his. A sample of a compulsory drug test returned positive last month. He is suspended until further notice.
Visitors will get the chance to run the rule over some of Chelsea’s most prized young assets. Principal among these is the cultured right-sided defender Josh Acheampong, 18, who has been the subject of some Enzo Maresca tough love after a contract extension dispute which has yet to be formally resolved.
19-year-old central midfielder Samuel Rak-Sakyi impressed in his debut against Astana and the highly mobile striker, Shumaira Mheuka, 17, is well regarded within the club. Tyrique George is a winger with a style reminiscent of Bukayo Saka; Richard Olise, a right back, is the younger brother of the Bayern Munich, former Crystal Palace, star Michael.
The ability of Enzo Maresca to keep a large squad more or less happy while at the same time giving even more young players first team experience is a notable feature of his reign so far. He has won plaudits for his ability to reintegrate Jadon Sancho as the player beloved of the Westfalenstadion rather than the unhappy figure of the Old Trafford years.
The weaknesses in the side are apparent to all but Maresca has found a way to manage these to date and keep the club on course for the primary objective which is to return to the Champions League where they have been an outstanding British performer for two decades.
Whether or not the club gets silverware this season most supporters will call it now as a success. And a relief. They may not have fully “got their Chelsea back” but all the signals are set fair. And everything, for now, is Yankee Doodle Dandy.
When the Premier League launched in 1992 there were 13 overseas players. And none was Italian.
Chelsea have done as much as anyone to change that, and have developed a particular affinity with clubs from Serie A recruiting both key players and managers from them. Since 1998 Chelsea have had seven Italians in charge: Gianluca Vialli, Claudio Ranieri, Carlo Ancelotti, Roberto di Matteo, Antonio Conte, Maurizio Sarri, and now Enzo Maresca.
Of his predecessors only Claudio Ranieri failed to win silverware and he is credited with creating the team that José Mourinho took to the league title the season after he was sacked. He also oversaw one of the most famous victories in Chelsea history, the 2-1 defeat of Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-final at Highbury in 2004.
Chelsea’s new Italian, Enzo Maresca, aged 44, began his professional career with two years as a defender at West Bromwich Albion under the direction of Denis Smith, a rugged former Stoke City centre half.
In 2000 the Baggies sold him to Juventus for a club record €5m. What followed was a journeyman career with Bologna, Piacenza, Fiorentina, Sevilla, Olympiacos, Malaga, Sampdoria, Palermo and Hellas Verona. The highlight of his career was scoring twice in Sevilla’s 4-0 UEFA Cup Final victory over Middlesbrough in which he was named Man of the Match.
Later in his career Maresca became more of a deep-lying playmaker but managers prized him for his versatility and competitive instinct. Following retirement at 37 he gained his coaching badges before joining Manchester City as manager of their Elite Development Squad in 2020. It was here that he first came to know Cole Palmer.
After winning the Premier League 2 title in 2021 Maresca was recruited by Parma to help them gain promotion from Serie B. This was not a successful campaign for who failed to go up and Maresca returned to Manchester as assistant manager to Pep Guardiola before Leicester City hired him in the summer of 2023.
He spent the first few months living at the club’s training base while guiding the Foxes to the Championship. Maresca is married with four children and his grasp of English idiom is impeccable.
The run in to the winter window, which opens on January 1 and closes on February 3, always heightens speculation and there will be plenty around Chelsea given the oversize roster and depth of young talent. Whatever the outcome of the Mudryk drugs investigation Chelsea are already committed to strengthening the attacking components of the squad although it is likely these recruits will first be seen in the Club World Cup in the United States this summer. Others will be on the way out on loan or permanently.
Ben Chilwell: One of the last remaining players from the team which beat Manchester City in the Champions League Final. He doesn’t fit Maresca’s tactical set up. A priority departure for the sporting directors.
Carney Chukwuemeka: Progressive midfield player who suffered a serious knee injury at West Ham in August 2023 which kept him out for most of the season. Now has too much competition in front of him. Needs regular first team football to recover his mojo.
Axel Disasi: Has failed to convince after his transfer from Monaco at the start of last season and Chelsea would be open to offers. Situation has become more complicated with an injury to Benoît Badiashile who is seen as a younger and better prospect than his French compatriot.
Estêvão Willian: The 17-year-old star of Palmeiras and the Brazil national team joins Chelsea in July where he will add to their array of wing talent. The fee is €60m.
Kendry Páez: Another 17-year-old and international colleague of Moisés Caiceido in midfield for Ecuador. Will move to Stamford Bridge after his 18th birthday in July.
Aaron Anselmino: Towering Argentinean 19-year-old centre back who Chelsea signed from Boca Juniors for €17m and sent back on loan until next summer.
One to watch: Andrey Santos - 20-year-old Brazilian international midfielder who Chelsea have on loan at sister club Strasbourg until the summer. He has played 24 games, scored six goals, and captained the team.
· Bobby Tambling, prolific goalscorer second only to Frank Lampard in the Chelsea records, turned out for Shamrock Rovers in the 1978/79 season. Still lives in Cork.
· Paddy Mulligan, Irish International full-back, signed for Chelsea from Shamrock Rovers for nearly €20,000 in October 1969. He made 58 appearances for the Blues including as a substitute in their Cup Winners Cup final against Real Madrid in 1971
· John Coady became the second Shamrock Rovers player to turn out at full back in West London when John Hollins signed him in 1986. He made nine appearances and seven as substitute scoring two goals.
· Damien Duff, flying winger and Premier League champion in Jose Mourinho’s 2004-5 team, the Duffer played the final nine games of his senior career at Shamrock Rovers before announcing his retirement in December 2015.