Hands up if you think Chelsea will struggle this season and not be in contention for the title next May. Not you at the back with the half-and-half scarf and a copy of a tabloid newspaper you’ve just taken as gospel. The rest of you.
Nobody? As suspected. Yet the media would have us believe that Jose Mourinho is in meltdown and ready to jump ship while on the pitch the team is flailing in disarray. Their captain is past it, Fabregas – one of Chelsea’s star performers last term – has suddenly gone AWOL and after just 180 minutes of football the club’s title aspirations have run aground on the jagged rocks of crisis.
We’ve been here before of course. Last season it was Manchester City’s turn to be prematurely damned with hysterical doom and gloom; the season before Arsenal came under the spotlight. It was ever thus in fact with any top six club who doesn’t immediately come out of the blocks firing being duly squeezed into the media narrative that accompanies the start of any campaign. They need a club to praise to the rafters and proclaimed champions-in-waiting – on this occasion Manchester City – and a club to knock seven bells out of: Yup, you’ve guessed it, Chelsea.
That is not to concede that all is evidently not right at Stamford Bridge. ‘Doctorgate’ was an unsavoury business that garnered widespread condemnation while Mourinho’s decision to substitute John Terry at half time at the Etihad last weekend may have made sense tactically but gave no regard for the bigger picture. In many ways then the Special One has volunteered the ammunition for the pot-shots that followed.
The team meanwhile are undeniably misfiring at present, probably as a consequence of a late return to full pre-season training with a pinch of a champion’s hangover thrown in and if they are to retain their crown they may need to play catch-up.
This has seen their odds slide out to a very tempting 16-5 in some quarters and who would have guessed that would be the case after just two games played?
Chelsea may not be in crisis mode – or at least it is far too early to state such a thing – but they do require fresh impetus which is why the £21m purchase of Pedro from Barcelona this week bodes well. They also need their bigger names to metaphorically step up to the plate and it is inconceivable to imagine Eden Hazard and Diego Costa not doing so at West Brom this weekend and beyond.
Once the Blues are back to their winning ways – and they will return to their winning ways just like the sun always rises and The Big Bang Theory is always on E4 – we can expect the narrative to shift; for the media to look elsewhere for another club to burden with false drama; and for that generous price mentioned above to bring a great big smile to your face.
There are some huge games looming on the horizon in the Premier League, games that could define the months to come. So for more betting tips please head over to Titanbet.
