If the Premier League started on Boxing Day, Chelsea would be playing in the Champions League next year. To make it even better reading for Blues fans, if the League started on New Years’ Day, it would have been in a great position to defend its title! Chelsea has been hot since handily beating Crystal Palace 3-0 on Jan. 3, and it seems that Stamford Bridge is truly well again. They are, after all, unbeaten in the Premier League since Guus Hiddink’s arrival. But things are less rosy than they actually appear to be.
Chelsea’s mid-week defeat to Paris St. Germain in the Champions Leaguewas to the same opponent at the same stage as last year. Its disappointing defeat in the FA Cup quarter final to Everton in the rematch of its 2009 Final highlighted Chelsea’s inability to cope with pressure. No fairytale ending for Hiddink then. He may blame the TV schedule, but come on, if you’re a big club with the European experience that Chelsea has, you’re almost expected to be able to manage this. In those two games, Chelsea players were not willing to get stuck in, and challenge for every ball. They were not aggressive enough, crumbling in the face of substantial pressure and hassling from their opponents. It’s as if they’ve given up fighting for their careers at Stamford Bridge. After all, given that Chelsea’s season is effectively over, some of these players may have been casting their eyes on a future away from a Stamford Bridge without any European nights next year.
Granted, Guus Hiddink seems to have brought the atmosphere back at the home of the outgoing champions. He’s also solved Chelsea’s fullback problems by shifting Azpilicueta to right-back and bringing in the pacier Kenedy at left-back.
But in this “run” that the Dutchman has put together, he’s been helped by some terrible refereeing. John Terry was miles offside when he scored his equalizer against Everton in the League. As was Diego Costa’s winner at Norwich. Its more spectacular wins were against an abject Newcastle and a youthful Man City.
Teething problems still exist. Eden Hazard has improved, but he was dismal against the Parisians and has largely been unable to recapture his form from last year. Diego Costa is becoming more potent under Hiddink but against Everton, seemed more interested in riling up opponents, or even biting them. It’s almost as if the “progress” made under Guus had disappeared in one week.
Some of those already looking at a future away from the Bridge should be allowed to move on. With a massive rebuilding job at Chelsea, it may make sense to try integrating the youth players into the first players. Any self-respecting top European club would attempt to do that. The Blues have some quality in their youth ranks: Ruben, Loftus, Cheek and Bertrand Traore have made their step-up this year. It’d be healthy for the club, rather than spending millions to bring in big names, to allow its youth investment to pay off.
On the Spot: Why Guus Hiddink’s Chelsea is merely a façade, what needs to be done
