Chelsea season preview: Officially entering the Premier League Championship Group, are the youth team ready?

In the shortlist of this year's Golden Globe Awards released not long ago, Paris Saint-Germain has 9 players on the list, and Chelsea, who defeated them in the Club World Cup final, was shortlisted, which has sparked heated discussions in public. With a lineup costing more than 1 billion euros, but lacks top superstars with high exposure. Two important championships are in hand, but they are still questioned because of unstable league performance. Maresca and his disciples will set sail with complex moods. The Premier League championship and the Champions League journey will be a brand new experience for them.

[Big demolition and construction, we need to save face and "inside"]

Chelsea's recruitment investment this summer reached 280 million euros, ranking second in Europe after Liverpool. Maresca has added 8 new players including Joao Pedro, Gittens, Harto, and Estewan. Although not as large as it was at the beginning of last season, Chelsea's lineup is still slightly bloated. Maresca hopes to keep the number of people in the rotation at around 27 people, and this goal will be quickly completed by the club's signing team.

As of August 11, Chelsea's revenue in selling players reached the first place in Europe, with Maduaike (56 million euros), Felix (30 million euros), Petrovic (28.9 million euros), Ugoshuku (28.7 million euros), Hall (28.65 million euros), Amuku (14.5 million euros), Humphreys (14 million euros), Kepa (5.8 million euros) and Betinelli (2.4 million euros) in exchange for 231 million euros for their old clubs.

, including the 100 million euro prize won by the Blues during the Club World Cup, they not only achieved an astonishing fiscal balance in the past period of time, but even made a profit of 50 million euros. Of course, considering Colville's injury, Maresca may win a new central defender before closing the window. Even so, Chelsea can still leave a "beautiful" book after the transfer deadline.

Since Qinghu Capital established a professional recruitment group, Chelsea has won many talented players by giving young people a large contract. This move not only saves costs, but also helps future sales and cash out. As time goes by, the outside world has gradually discovered the rationality and advancement of this model. Chelsea not only won the championship and renovated the lineup, but also led the trend of the times in terms of team building model.

[New "four-layer bus", four-tier championship competition is not a dream]

In early December 2024, Chelsea first won the first victory in the Big6 minor league at Tottenham Stadium, and then convincingly won the top spot in the "regular season" of the UEFA League, showing a strong momentum of progressing in multiple lines. Maresca excitedly said, "The Blues have obvious age structure advantages and can dominate the Premier League in the future." As soon as the horn of the championship was sounded, Chelsea suffered a head-on blow. After losing to five league games, they were defeated by Manchester City. The experience of Brighton's double-killing experience was even more unbearable. The background of this wave of young players gradually emerged, and a new round of buying came from this.

In the last 16 games of last season (Premier League, Europa League and Club World Cup), Chelsea won 14 victories, and their losses against Newcastle and Flamenco were all due to the disadvantage of Jackson's red color. With the successive joining of Drapp and Joao Pedro, the biggest unstable factor in the main lineup has been ruled out, and the big victory in the Club World Cup final showed the team's potential.

First, it survived the devil's schedule during the Christmas-New Year period, and then withstood the pressure in the two-line attack at the end of the season. Finally, it cleared the reputation of the Premier League's top at the top of the world. Chelsea has experienced a lot of hardships in the past year, which shows the advantages of this youth army in terms of lineup depth, technical ability and growth potential. Palmer, Kesedo, Enzo Fernandez and Joao Pedro showed superstar temperament. Maresca proved that he had the professional ability and winner temperament of a champion coach. This team will let people see their "cap" in this season's Premier League championship battle.

[Not only need to convert the offense, but also need to attack the position]

In the early stage of last season, Chelsea showed that they were good at converting the offense, and there were not many ways to fight the position. After Jackson was injured, Chelsea's counterattack became a straightforward gambling. He did not have the ability to score in and out in the attack stage at all. Palmer, as the core of tactics, also encountered a crisis of trust due to a long ball drought. In order to break the tactical mystery, Maresca broke the boundary between the two lineups, and Enzo Fernandez adjusted his mentality in time and became the key teacher of the team in the second half of the season.

Mid-core drive, it is difficult for the opponent to curb the operation of the Blues' offensive system. Joao Pedro's arrival made up for the last shortcomings in the frontcourt.

Last season, Chelsea had the most opportunity-creating central defender (Enzo Fernandez) and the most opportunity-creating midfielder (Palmer) in the five major leagues, but only scored 7th goals in the league (64 goals in 38 games), not only lagging behind Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal, but also not as good as Newcastle, Brighton and Brentford. Jackson, Nkunku and Maduaike are to blame. The three players have become victims of the team's upgrade without exception. Joao Pedro has earned back the transfer fee for his new owner with his outstanding performance in the Club World Cup, and Gittens, Estewan and Drapp are also promising.

Received 3 goals in the Club World Cup semi-finals and finals. Joao Pedro's Blues career has a fantastic start. His large-scale mobility and superb shooting skills are the tactical puzzles that Maresca urgently needs. Considering the extremely low parallel goods rate of "Made in Brighton", fans may once again witness an excellent center who can lead the Blues to compete for important championships after Drogba and Diego Costa..

The pre-season warm-up match was against AC Milan. Joao Pedro's flexible playing style made the opponent very uncomfortable, and the Milan defender could only use fouls to stop him from moving forward.

In terms of the configuration of the two wings, Neto & Gittens combination is in the top ranking, and Estewan has the ability to participate in rotation of multiple positions. The "Pseudo-Nine" with a flexible ball path in front of him is responsible for pulling and connecting, and the wings with outstanding offensive ability to hold the ball and open up the space. After Palmer returns to the "comfort zone", he is still the trader with amazing data, which is proof of the Club World Cup final.

Chelsea's midfielder staffing is the top in the Premier League.

There are two strong players in each position in the frontcourt to compete, and Chelsea's midfielder reserves are also rich. Thomas has left the Premier League, Rodri is troubled by injuries, and Kesedo has become the number one midfielder in the Premier League in the actual sense. It is precisely thanks to the strong coverage ability of "New Kante" that Maresca dared to send Lavia to the bench and gave Enzo Fernandez greater offensive authority, who also gave back the coach's trust with outstanding efficiency.

[Two major stubborn diseases are classified and the youth army has promising prospects]

In the Premier League last season, Chelsea had poor record in strong dialogues, mainly because of the lack of ability of the center and central defenders. The problem at the No. 9 position has been solved through signings. Maresca once hoped to rely on the self-transformation of young players to improve their ability to fight back against strikes in the backcourt. This plan may be forced to adjust with Colville's injury.

Chaloba gave a phenomenal performance in his first match after his return, but he quickly became the target of his opponent's focus, with Haaland and Sansatsu defeating Chelsea by winning a one-on-one match with him. This is also the case with Adara Biyoyu. The team participating in the rotation in the championship competition may have exceeded his ability. Reese James' performance is getting better and better after returning from injury. The existence of Kukurelia and Harto can ensure that the Blues' left gate is worry-free, and the central defender position has become the team's shortcomings.

Since Thiago Silva's departure, Chelsea's defense has been in a state of insufficient star flavor and lack of leadership. Robert Sanchez lacks players who can win one-on-one through tough confrontations. Chelsea's central defender relies heavily on the protection of the midfielder. Maresca once tended to use players with outstanding physical fitness to form double midfielders. This is why Lavia's appearance pick was once ahead of Enzo Fernandez.

Coleville is reimbursed for the season, and Chelsea needs to introduce another central defender before closing the window.

Later in the last season, Colville made rapid progress and showed the momentum of advancing to a top central defender. This time, the injury came not the same time. In the warm-up match against AC Milan, Maresca arranged for Charoba and Adarabioyu to start, and Achangpang came on as a substitute, which was obviously not the right configuration for the championship team. It is not realistic to expect Harto to take the lead quickly. Chelsea still needs to add an excellent central defender in the "second half" of the summer window.

【Summary】

Before last season, Maresca unexpectedly became Chelsea's coach. This newbie with weak resumes has been criticized by public opinion for lacking experience in coaching in the top league. It is not only a continuation of the Blues' "Italian complex" and a disciple of Guardiola. Maresca is blessed by a double halo, but it is actually very suitable for coaching Chelsea, which mainly focuses on young players.

From combining the first teams with many new players to clarifying the rotation principles and competitive style, from leading the team out of the dilemma of multi-line combat, to contributing a perfect tactical answer on the final stage of the Club World Cup, Maresca has delivered a satisfactory answer in the past year and successfully joining the list of famous Premier League coaches, Qinghu Capital's strategic vision has been verified once again. During the club's top club Cup, Chelsea had contended against the Brazilian League clubs in a row and had few experiences in playing against European continental giants (only Paris). The Champions League in the new season will make up for the last lesson in the growth process for this young army.