It happens every year (or so it seems). One team absolutely dominates the Premier League and wins the trophy with only a slight blip to their season in terms of results or performances. Last season, that was Chelsea. The season before that: Manchester City. And before that: Manchester United. There's definitely a pattern there. Then at the beginning of every new season, journalists and football pundits sit and they put forward their guess of who is going to win the league based on the previous campaign and their business in the transfer window. This season, there was an almost unanimous vote that Chelsea would go from strength to strength, as they had last season, and win the trophy again due to the sheer talent of their squad and the pure genius mind of Jose Mourinho.
In no way am I saying that they won't win it. The Premier League can be extremely unpredictable at times and throw up shock results that could flip the table on its head at times. The way Chelsea have started the season though, especially in comparison to Manchester City, it doesn't look like they will be as highly rated to retain their title as we head towards winter. City have had a dominating start to the season, which came to an end on Saturday tea time, but before that they won 5 on the bounce and Joe Hart was still to concede a goal this season. Whereas, Chelsea didn't get off to a winning start and their back line, which was so tough to face last season, suddenly looked very shaky and looked a different 4 people to the ones that lined up last season.
They have only managed two wins since the beginning of the campaign; an unconvincing performance against West Brom who almost managed to take something from the game after Chelsea had a man sent off, and last weekend against 9-man Arsenal. It isn't completely clear why they are struggling as much as they are. They made a few good signings in the summer which coupled with last season's squad could have been unstoppable, but instead of scoring goals for fun and putting on performances to draw out results that fans are used to, they just can't get it right.
Like I said before though, this isn't the first time it has happened, and Chelsea certainly won't be the last to suffer because of it. There was the title defence of Manchester United the season after Sir Alex Ferguson retired, which was extremely poor and even saw the team drop out of the Champions League places. It was a big change for the team, but nobody could have predicted that their title defence would have been as poor as it was. The following season, Manchester City just couldn't keep up with the dominant force that was Chelsea. It's almost like the pressure of retaining the title is too much for a team no matter how much the manager tries to improve it.
Anyway, back to Chelsea. Even though they beat Arsenal at the weekend, it was against a team who they had a 2 man advantage over, so some would say it was a much easier game than it could have been. Even though they did record a win over another top team in the league, people weren't left talking about the brilliant performance of the team, or how they did well to take advantage of the game like they would've last season. No, it was Diego Costa that found himself in the headlines again after the game. Unfortunately, once again it was for all the wrong reasons, and it all started through Arsene Wenger complaining about him not being sent off (which he should have been). Costa is an important player for Chelsea even if he isn't scoring goals for them, but has got a hot headed nature in many of the games he's played. So to have him banned after a retrospective investigation is a big loss to the team, especially when they are struggling so much to get the results that they so badly need.
If you ask me, I think that Mourinho isn't handling the situation very well. He's always been calm in interviews, never loses his head in a bad situation and has a knack for saying exactly what his fans need to hear, but in recent weeks instead of reassuring the fans, he has looks like he has been trying to please everyone, or so it seems. He claimed that he wanted fans of other teams to enjoy his this period while his team are struggling because it was a rare thing to happen to him before tagging on the end that he would sort out the situation. You'd expect any other manager in his situation to put his own fans first, but then again, Mourinho isn't like the other managers. True to his words though, he has given the fans a lift with the win over Chelsea no matter how they got it.
Now, don't get me wrong, I can see Chelsea bouncing back and going on a strong run in the league. Everyone knows they aren't going to stay 15th and be sucked into a relegation battle (if they are, that is certainly one shock that nobody could have seen coming), but it might take them a while to get back into their stride. What looks like the toughest task for them at the moment will be trying to catch up to Man City who, even though they lost at the weekend, have been so strong that it is unlikely Chelsea would be able to catch them to retain their title. It has been said many times before though, it's a long season, and anything could happen.
Like I said before though, this isn't the first time it has happened, and Chelsea certainly won't be the last to suffer because of it. There was the title defence of Manchester United the season after Sir Alex Ferguson retired, which was extremely poor and even saw the team drop out of the Champions League places. It was a big change for the team, but nobody could have predicted that their title defence would have been as poor as it was. The following season, Manchester City just couldn't keep up with the dominant force that was Chelsea. It's almost like the pressure of retaining the title is too much for a team no matter how much the manager tries to improve it.
Anyway, back to Chelsea. Even though they beat Arsenal at the weekend, it was against a team who they had a 2 man advantage over, so some would say it was a much easier game than it could have been. Even though they did record a win over another top team in the league, people weren't left talking about the brilliant performance of the team, or how they did well to take advantage of the game like they would've last season. No, it was Diego Costa that found himself in the headlines again after the game. Unfortunately, once again it was for all the wrong reasons, and it all started through Arsene Wenger complaining about him not being sent off (which he should have been). Costa is an important player for Chelsea even if he isn't scoring goals for them, but has got a hot headed nature in many of the games he's played. So to have him banned after a retrospective investigation is a big loss to the team, especially when they are struggling so much to get the results that they so badly need.
If you ask me, I think that Mourinho isn't handling the situation very well. He's always been calm in interviews, never loses his head in a bad situation and has a knack for saying exactly what his fans need to hear, but in recent weeks instead of reassuring the fans, he has looks like he has been trying to please everyone, or so it seems. He claimed that he wanted fans of other teams to enjoy his this period while his team are struggling because it was a rare thing to happen to him before tagging on the end that he would sort out the situation. You'd expect any other manager in his situation to put his own fans first, but then again, Mourinho isn't like the other managers. True to his words though, he has given the fans a lift with the win over Chelsea no matter how they got it.
Now, don't get me wrong, I can see Chelsea bouncing back and going on a strong run in the league. Everyone knows they aren't going to stay 15th and be sucked into a relegation battle (if they are, that is certainly one shock that nobody could have seen coming), but it might take them a while to get back into their stride. What looks like the toughest task for them at the moment will be trying to catch up to Man City who, even though they lost at the weekend, have been so strong that it is unlikely Chelsea would be able to catch them to retain their title. It has been said many times before though, it's a long season, and anything could happen.
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