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20 teams in 20 days – Chelsea

By on July 30, 2014

Jose Mourinho has a very specific management style. “He’s the most loyal, the most caring manager I’ve ever worked with,” according to Chelsea legend Frank Lampard. “I might be biased, because I love the man, but he does it instantly. He brings instant success.” Lampard was a man who Mourinho gave a chance at Chelsea. When he first broke through into the Chelsea squad, it was during Mourinho’s first term in charge of The Blues. Years on, Lampard remembered – saying this when Mourinho began his second term at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2013. At this point, he was still a starter, and by then legend, at the club. Yet Mourinho does what is best for the club. He may be a great manager, and Lampard was one of his former faveorites, yet to do what is good for his team the manager toned down Lampard’s role and this summer released the midfielder. Mourinho let a legend go. Not many managers have the gaul to do this – but Mourinho made it look graceful. And this is how Chelsea operates.

Multiple Chelsea managers had attempted, and largely failed, to get results from forward Fernando Torres following his career dampening injury in 2010, yet Mourinho bought back-up for the forward at just his first season at the club, and now, haven not been given the results he wanted, has gone ahead and splashed the cash on a replacement, in Diego Costa. Likewise, he bought Kurt Zouma this summer, and Cesc Fabregas. He might make some mistakes along the way, like in the sale of Juan Mata, but has the money to do so, and in the end still guided Chelsea to a semifinal Champions League finish.

The club is the most valuable in the Premier League, with a combined market value of €534,700,000, according to Transfermarkt. Coming into the 2014/2015 season, their squad is also the second youngest. Up front they have Costa, while Torres serves as backup. Their midfield is absolutely packed with talent of the likes of Oscar, Willian, Eden Hazard, and Fabregas, and Nemanja Matic is there to serve in front of the back line, as well as John Obi Mikel. Zouma, Gary Cahill, and John Terry are the club’s main center-backs, but their biggest wealth of talent is at full-back, where they have Cesar Azpilicueta, Branislav Ivanovic, Ryan Bertrand, and new signing Filipe. Honestly, it is hard to find a single hole in their side – even in goal they have Thibaut Courtois, and Petr Cech. Their side is perhaps the strongest in the league, while tactically, they are also one of the more decisive sides, serving under Mourinho’s classic counter-attacking style of play. Anything less than a title or at least runners-up finish in the league next season will be considered as a failure for the club. In Europe as well, they are expected to go far.

Fixture List Highlights:
First game – Chelsea will face Burnley away at Turf Moor on August 16th.
Last Game – Chelsea travel to Sunderland on the last day of the season.
Biggest matches – Arsenal: 4 October (H), 25 April (A); Manchester United: 25 October (A), 18 April (H); Manchester City: 20 September (A), 31 January (H); Liverpool: 8 November (A), 9 May (H).

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.