Chelsea FC micro-takes

Men: Week 3 win: 2-1-0, 7 pts

The home Chelsea radio commentators couldn't believe the team was up 2-0 as they had played so poorly. But the stats were all in Chelsea's favor. We may never know the truth, but Fulham definitely wanted a foul on they play that resulted in a penalty kick against them. There's a concern the early season injuries are piling up, though. Levi Colwell, Cole Palmer, Romeo Lavia are out and the manager is talkign about tired players.

Extra: Are Mancester City going to be bad? They're 1-0-2 right now.

Men: Week 2 win: 1-1-0, 4 pts

Many corners to the near post work against West Ham and their keeper. West Ham are likely to be a bottom-half club again this year. A quick 1-1 score yielded to an equally quick 3-1 lead. Goals scored by forwards Joao Pedro and Neto, midfielders Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo, and defender Trevor Chalobah... all without Cole Palmer... make it look easy.

Men: Week 1 draw: 0-1-0, 1 pt

Many shots; over the bar. Well, you can't win them all unless you're the Chelsea Women, and now the men don't have that to worry about.

Men: Entering the 2025-2026 Season

If you don't know, on 30 May 2022 the team was bought by a consortium later known as BlueCo. The team had finished third in the Premiere League. Their 21 wins, 6 draws, and 11 losses earned them 74 points. They were runners up in both the League Cup and FA Cup, and were knocked out of the Champions League in the quarterfinals by eventual champions Real Madrid. But after having won the Champions League the prior year, they won the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.

Despite the fairly successful season, things were not ok. Keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga was short and struggled. There were aging stars: Antonio Rudiger, Marcos Alonso, Thiago Silva, Cesar Azpilicueta, Jorginho, N'golo Kante, Hakim Ziyech. Others hadn't quite lived up to expectations: Christian Pulisic, Timo Werner, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Kai Havertz. Separately, Romelu Lukaku created his own public relations disaster. It was time to move on from these players.

The transfer windows of the 2022-2023 season saw 20 incoming and 25 outgoing players. The following 2023-2024 season saw 12 incoming and 14 outgoing players, largely moving on from veteran but againg players in favor of youth. It was a reset; a starting over. Who knows when the team would compete for trophies again, as they had gotten used to. This past year saw 12 incoming and 20 outgoing players - still very high turnover.

But the team appears to be on the rise. The last three Premiere League seasons resulted in the team finishing in 12th, 6th, and then 4th place. They earned 11, 18, and 20 wins leading to 44, 63, and then 69 points. In cups, they went from third round exits in both the League and FA Cups, to semifinal and runner-up finishes, and then won the Conference Leage last year. Ok, the Conference League is the third tier league, but winning is a good thing. In the summer, the team unexpectedly crushed Champions League winners PSG by three goals to nil to win the new version of the Club World Cup.

There's nothing like rooting for a team that's on the rise. Chelsea FC enter the 2025 season appearing to potentailly be a young team on the rise. There is still a lot of turnover in the squad, but there are also proven winners in it. It's hard to go into any season with any confidence of a Premiere League or Champions League title, but we are expecting to qualify for Champions League again in a way we haven't in a while. The Guardian Football Weekly podcast crew predicted Chelsea would finish in 1stJonathan Wilson, 4thJohn Brewin, 4thJonathan Liew, 5thJordan Jarrett-Bryan, 6thMax Rushden, and 6thBarry Glendenning. Here's hoping.