The 2023/24 season came to an end in the Premier League yesterday and the time has come to start reflecting on everything that has happened, and there has been a lot.
This season has been such an emotional roller coaster. I look back on moments from the season and think about how depressing and toxic it was at times. I remember jumping here after the game and reading literally hundreds of comments, sometimes filled with pure anger and emotion about the situation. I really remember how bad it was at times this season. I have felt all of this from many of you in this community. I actually think this community is a lot more measured than other Chelsea fan communities around it. There’s a wonderful mix of fans here, fans who attend the match, UK-based, overseas-based, fans who can’t get to the match and everything in between. One thing we all have in common is our dedication and passion for our football club, the club we all cry for.
Emotions, overreacting, underreacting, it all happens and it’s all natural. We’ve all been at our worst at times while supporting Chelsea this season, and one thing I’ve heard and read a lot about is the disconnect they’ve felt this season. It was impossible to ignore. There were times when I felt that too.
But what difference does winning the game make? The feelings and emotions of the fan base have really changed in the last five games. Things are much better with better performance and results. I think that’s what soccer is. Yes? Opinions can change very quickly.
Chelsea certainly finished the season strongly, and there is no doubt that finishing sixth and returning the club to European football was an achievement. But that’s just an achievement given how bad things have been this season. If you remember all the doom and gloom, the unprecedented injury problems, the youngest squad in the league and everything else, I think you only have to look at finishing sixth to be an achievement for Pochettino and the champions. player.
However, unfortunately, the season does not last longer than 5 games, and from January onwards, there will be no games at all. If we had done that, we would have finished 4th. This was a club goal set by Pochettino before the start of the season and one he failed to reach.
We scored goals and in fact Chelsea have scored 77 goals this season. This is the third most goals in a single campaign in the competition. Only the 2009-10 (103) and 2016-17 (85) seasons were better, both title-winning seasons.
Again, that’s a bit of an achievement. But on the other hand, it wasn’t very good, in fact it was bad.
Chelsea’s 63 goals this season are the most they have conceded in the club’s Premier League history and the most they have conceded in 30 years. This was the biggest problem and we conceded 16 more goals than we conceded last season.
We have solved our attacking problems from last season and have been much more finesse and creativity in front of goal. But defensively we were often messy.
Injuries have created the problem of not being able to select a regular back four. Unfortunately, coaches need to work harder to train better defense. Defense is not only the responsibility of the defense, but also of the team. Pochettino’s side play too open and leave themselves real vulnerable to counter-attacks.
We’ll be taking a closer look at individual players later this week and evaluating them all together. But Cole Palmer’s goal contribution this season has been insane and a huge reason for our improvement in attack. But also Pochettino’s set-up and the way he sets his numbers and the way the third man runs in on the attack also helped us be devastating on the counter.
Once again, we will look at Pochettino in detail individually in another article, but his overall tactics have often not been good enough (although they have been much better in the last 5-6 games). He also still hasn’t formed a relationship and connection with his entire fan base. But we’ll take a closer look at Pochettino and the players individually in another article later this week.
Now let’s start the game. There have been terrible performances and results and there have been very good outcomes. We’ve been very inconsistent, with one cup final and one cup semi-final, and very good results throughout the season to get there.
We had a pretty decent pre-season and there was real promise in Pochettino’s set-up at the time, which looked a lot more like how he ended the season. Christopher Nkunku looked the key and suffered an understandably disappointing injury.
Chelsea remained unbeaten in five pre-season games, picking up wins over Wrexham, Brighton and Fulham.
But as soon as the season started the cracks were revealed and we all feared the worst after defeats against West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa set the tone for a long and difficult season ahead.
After that, they lost to Brentford, but also beat Tottenham 4-1, and also faced Manchester City and drew 4-4. We actually deserved to win that game and many considered it our best performance of the season.
It should have been a turning point, but a crushing 4-1 loss to Newcastle and a loss to Manchester United in December brought the mood down and the gloom returned. There have been so many one step forward and two steps back moments this season and they have continued throughout the season.
During that period, Everton also beat us 2-0 and Wolves also beat us 2-1.
After that we achieved good results in the FA Cup and League Cup, which eased the pressure on our league form. However, the situation in the league continued to be unstable. We conceded eight goals in two games, losing 4-0 against Liverpool and 4-2 against Wolves. This was their second loss of the season.
But then we beat Aston Villa in the cup, held Crystal Palace away at home, and once again faced champions Manchester City, drawing 1-1. This was another game where we could have easily taken all three points and actually got a point. It got us all thinking, ‘Why on earth can’t we play like this every game?’
We then narrowly lost 1-0 to Liverpool in the League Cup final, before coming away with a win against a depleted Liverpool side full of academy players. It was unfortunate for me to lose this and we should have been celebrating lifting the trophy this season as well.
We then went on to a 6-0 win over Everton, a win over Newcastle and a 4-3 win over Manchester United to extend our unbeaten run to eight games, once again showing the great team spirit we have only seen in isolation this season. . Until the end of the season.
However, there was a disappointing 2-2 draw against Sheffield United in this match, where we lost all three points after conceding an equalizer in extra time.
We then lost narrowly to Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final. It was another game against the champions where we performed well and deserved more. It was only the third time we had played City this season and they deserved more.
And then there was another low point of the season, another point throughout the season where the majority of the fan base called for Pochettino to be sacked. We polled people on this throughout the season and on average 80% of people wanted Pochettino sacked at this point and throughout the previous season. But I am of course talking about the 5-0 thrashing of Arsenal in April.
But things changed after that and Chelsea finished the season on a high note, going six games unbeaten. Wins over West Ham, Tottenham, Nottingham Forest, Brighton and on Sunday Bournemouth saw them finish sixth. It was a great end to an incredibly up and down season.
Kieran Gill, Daily Mail Yesterday we reported that Chelsea will finish in the top four of the Premier League this season in the half-time table. The second half was closer to the relegation zone.
That pretty much sums up our season. The game consists of half time, first half, second half and full season.
We started slow and poorly, but got some good results towards the end of the season. There were mixed emotions throughout, and it was also a story about what could happen. We narrowly lost games we should have won and won games we should have lost or drawn.
The players have shown real fight and real unity at times this season. Pochettino has certainly helped build that relationship.
At other times they were not fit for shirts and seemed undisturbed. But thankfully now it seems the players are behind and they are fighting for their badges and many of you have noticed. Last week I saw comments like, ‘This is a really likeable group of players,’ and I’m really starting to feel that way now.
There are still some question marks in the squad and there are players who I firmly believe will not be able to make it here. It also needs a few more key additions: However, there have been some top signings and players like Nicolas Jackson and Moises Caicedo have actually proven the critics wrong. Other players like Cole Palmer and Malo Gusto have proven to be very good and smart signings. There’s a lot of great things going on with our squad build, and we know we need to do something bold about it.
I think we were naive in not adding a better quality experience, and I sincerely hope this issue is resolved in the summer.
Joe Cole said this week: “What is very important is summer recruitment. Experience is required. I won’t say it anywhere in particular. I don’t think the club needs to sign any more young players. They need experience. Very similar to what Bayer Leverkusen did. They brought in Jonas Hofmann and another senior player (Granit Xhaka), but you can’t put value on that.
“If I were to give advice to a club, it would be two or three players who go in. Experienced players who know how to win games, good character sets the tone in the locker room.”
I think you’re going to hear from a guy who was a very smart player at the time. Because that person is there.
Overall, the depressing moments and poor results and performance of this season cannot be forgotten. But at the same time I can acknowledge the problems we have faced and the improvements we have seen this season are emerging, and I can also note that we have had some decent performances and results this season as well.
It wasn’t enough for Chelsea as a club. The goal was not achieved because the club owner wanted to qualify for the Champions League. But given the circumstances and the fact that we spent much of the season outside the top 10, this is a 6th-place finish.
I certainly can’t say I enjoyed this season, far from it at times. It was painful and punishing. But I can see the signs and I maintain faith in this ownership and the ambition they have.
It’s time to improve your squad again, make some important decisions, and push for an even stronger push into next season!
