Post-season review - Chelsea 2013/14

[BlueLion. 21,491]

[Vybz Kartel 1,613]

On one hand I think its been a success as it has been our most stable season of the pitch since our title winning year of 2010, we have also managed to get in more points than we have had in the last 3 seasons. Our defence has been solid and we finally redressed the problem of a central mid we have had since Ballack departed in 2011. We also managed to make the QF of the champ league although thts expected of us imo, we have made them 8 times in the last 12 years. We are also challenging for the title which we last did in 2011 which is a positive. Tactically we have also improved with players like Azplicueta, Cahill, Hazard and Schurrle improving as each game passes. Some might argue that it is being a good transitional year. We also bridged the gap between us and city which is good

On the other hand I think it has not been a success because imo we still see the same problems showing up from past seasons like inability to break down small teams, surely by now we shld hv found a formula to break them down it cant be tht difficult because other title contenders seem to to it well. This problem can also be seen with Mou's real madrid team last season We have also not redressed the striker problem which we have had for a while and every chelsea fan knows about. Mou have brought in a new striker during the summer window becoz Torres was never gonna be the answer to our questions, ultimately tht decision to be cheap on spendin big on a striker is what looks like is costing us the title. Lukaku been allowed to be loaned out looked a bad decision then and even looks worse now. Another reason I think the season has not been a great success is no youth player has been promoted or looks like threatening to get into the team, I blame the coach on this one, he seems to never give the youth a chance, take Kalas for example his been available since October when we still had cup games against weak sides like Derby but he was never given a start, The other day against Arsenal we were leading by 5-0 at 20 min and he brought in Mikel instead of givin Kalas a solid 20 min run in. It wasnt the first time the game was over tht he did not bring him on on time.

As much as it pains me to say Rafa Benitez was ahead on the youth front, at least he was giving Ake minutes here and there and he looked like he was in or around the first team. Dont get me wrong I am not saying youth team players have a divine right to be played but I think Mourinho could have done better in this department. sometimes youthfulness wins u important games as they bring something totally different and unpredictable for example Macheda for Man Utd against Aston Villa in 2009 or even Sterling for Liverpool this season. At the end of the season which youth player can be regarded as close to breaking into the first team squad? Another reason one might argue we hv not been a success is our we performed poorly in domestic cups considering we virtually played most of our first team.

It depends on how you view a successful season and it is definitely up for debate, if you rate success in terms of cups and titles won then this season might still end up as a failure compared to the last 2 season. Rafa finished 3rd with a worse squad and under more severe pressure so if we finish 3rd in the league can we term it a failure? If you look at it from the perspective of team development and team stability it has definitely been a success. I am indifferent to be honest I think Mou could have done better in some departments. What do you think of our season?

[zolayes 14,489]

regardless of what happens between now and Mid May a resounding SUCCESS ,,, Finally transition is being started ,, KTF ,,think long term ..that's

what we have been screaming for years ,

[The_Flash 1,144]

It has been a transition, and its not Jose's fault our strikers are terrible. To still be where we are without a Suarez or Aguero I think is an achievement, but I can't help thinking it is a bit of a failure as we did do really well, we beat all the big teams, and I am bit gutted

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

The short answer is success. What we miss now is a WC striker (with all due respect to Eto'o, who is still a quality player, but he's old and not our future Becuase of his age, he is also fairly inconsistent). That's why we can't destroy the smaller teams. If we had one, we would have beaten Stoke, Everton and West Brom. We would have been out of sight in the league

The bigger teams (City, Liverpool, Arsenal) all like to attack us and play football. That works into our hands because we have a very strong defense (perhaps the strongest in Europe) and we have pacy players on the counter-attack. With these two qualities, you can beat any team. And add to the fact that Eto'o has been fantastic against the biggest teams at Stamford Bridge. It gives us a luxury we miss. Imagine if Torres started against Man United, Tottenham, Arsenal and Liverpool? We would have been struggling for 4th place again.

Torres is a cancer to our team. The mystery is how he starts ahead of Ba when Eto'o is injured.

[meetdoscar 335]

Its a success because;

1. we have re-instilled respect and fear factor back to stamford bridge.

2. Our defense is stable and we have a good CDM for years to come.

3. Hazard, Oscar, schurrle are contributing a very good no. of goals which will be exception when we have a great striker to lead us.

4. Stability in management, Mourinho is hooked to chelsea for years no MATA what.

5. We actually challenged for Epl after a while despite numerous new signings in the last 2 years and can only get better.

6. I expected more but with Torres in front we will always be limited therefore qualifying comfortably for europe and doing well in europe will always be a success as far as torres is in front.

7. We attack and defend as a team unlike previous seasons which means we have only lost games by the odd solitary goal in Epl and Ucl

8. Torres is a year closer to the end of his contract(if he doesn't get sold)

9. We have the best manager in the world finally

10. The general feeling of a successful transition season

[Fernando 6,458]

At the beginning of the season I said we was never going anywhere with people like Torres and mikel in our lineup.

But some people thought that Mourinho could turn shit into gold.... And this is why some people are surprised because their high expectations of Mourinho.

That being said at the beginning of the season I said I would be happy with a top 3 finish and a quarter/semis cl.

I think we are close to completing that so I have no complaints.

We made great progress from last season.

I expect to build on this progress and challenge in all fronts next season.

[didierforever 7,349]

The season is still not over. We could end up winning CL and PL. even if we don't win both or one, the season is still a success. We are better off in points than last season. We are in a title race whereas we were in a 3rd spit dog fight. We were in europa, we are playing CL quarters agaibst PSG.

So obviously this season is a success.

[meetdoscar 335]

^^^^^

11. Plus we beat all the Big teams, Esp. ManCity home and away and that's a statement for next season

[zolayes 14,489]

^^^^^

11. Plus we beat all the Big teams, Esp. ManCity home and away and that's a statement for next season

the amazing fact is our stats against the top 7 compared to bottom 7

[iseah100 5,612]

the amazing fact is our stats against the top 7 compared to bottom 7

Do you have those stats? I wanna see what they look like.

[zolayes 14,489]

Do you have those stats? I wanna see what they look like.

sorry no but I know we have a lot more points against the top 7 than against bottom 7

[Jase 43,479]

Do you have those stats? I wanna see what they look like.

Against the Top 7 - P11 W7 D3 L1

Against Bottom 7 - P11 W8 D2 L1

Though should note that it wouldn't be balance if we take our record against the bottom 7 and compare it with the Top 7 since we are one of those Top 7 teams and there are only 6 others to play. So taking that into account, our record against the bottom 6 reads - P9 W6 D2 L1.

[The_Flash 1,144]

How i would love some kind of miracle to let us win the PL, it would be wonderful.

[zolayes 14,489]

Against the Top 7 - P11 W7 D3 L1

Against Bottom 7 - P11 W8 D2 L1

Though should note that it wouldn't be balance if we take our record against the bottom 7 and compare it with the Top 7 since we are one of those Top 7 teams and there are only 6 others to play. So taking that into account, our record against the bottom 6 reads - P9 W6 D2 L1.

Now im confused perhaps Pascal or Descartes can make sense of this ,, See I am an admirer of

SOME Frenchmen ,,

[Rmpr 8,977]

The answer is neither, it's somewhere in between...

[Henrique 9,133]

The answer is neither, it's somewhere in between...

Lets see what Mourinho thinks about it. He said Arsenal are failure specialist, Benitez was a loser because we end up in 3th last season.

Failure.

[LAM09 6,744]

I think it depends where we finish at the end of the season. We won a trophy and finished third last season with a weaker team, and a weaker manager.