Chelsea Football Club – 2013/14 Season Preview

Jose Mourinho during a Chelsea FC training session at Rajamangala Stadium on July 16, 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand. (Getty Images)

The start of the 2013/14 season will mark the start of a new era for Chelsea. The winds of change have long been troubling the glossy turf of Stamford Bridge. But the prodigal son, Jose Mourinho, has finally returned home after completing his ‘education’, and has made his decision to build a legacy.

In light of that, let us have a look at what we could expect this upcoming season:

What went right last season:

Last season, Chelsea were crowned the princes of Europe, with Branislav Ivanovic grabbing the winner in the last minutes of a hard-fought victory against Benfica in the Europa League final. The only thing that probably went right for Chelsea last season was that, but the team kept going despite facing major setbacks. Chelsea were knocked out of competition after competition, as they failed to captivate on the brilliant form they had started the season with.

A few players stepped up when it mattered with their elegance and trickery, namely Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Oscar dos Santos. They were the spark in the side that Chelsea desperately craved for after letting the Arjen Robben-Damien Duff-Joe Cole generation leave.

The boys notched up 71 assists and scored in 46 goals in all.

What went wrong last season that needs to be improved:

A lot of things went wrong, but the catalyst was the sacking of Stamford Bridge favourite, Roberto Di Matteo. This stands out as the biggest mistake on Chelsea’s part that could have been avoided.

The fact that Chelsea became the first Champions League winners to crash out at the group stages forced the board to lay Di Matteo off. This, combined with the appointment of Rafael Benitez, caused uproar among the Chelsea faithful.

A total of ten managers have been fired so far (with nine of them being appointed) in Roman Abramovich’s era.

Moreover, the utter failure of the loan system came into question as Chelsea lacked depth in almost every position on the field. The club that played the highest number of matches around the

world ironically had the thinnest squad in all of Europe.