In recent days, the general football public has been predicting that Chelsea will be finding it a lot more tougher to defend their Premier League crown next season with Petr Cech now having joined Arsenal, not to mention the Blues’ other title rivals strengthening their ranks.
History tells you that defending the Premier League isn’t easy but that said, with Jose Mourinho at the helm, it will be that much more possible than not.
Chelsea have yet to strengthen their ranks this summer but they have reached an agreement with Monaco to conclude a season-long loan deal for Radamel Falcao – a transfer that hasn’t gone down so well with our resident Blues fans in the tavern.
Mourinho has spoke about wanting to bring the best out of the Colombian international once again but our Chelsea fans are rather sceptical on that front.
Lucky enough for Chelsea however, they boast an imperious playing staff. After all, what other teams can dispose of a goalkeeper like Petr Cech while still remaining content in the abilities of Thibaut Courtois?
One thing is for sure; the Blues’ title rivals will have to go some to usurp them in next season’s title race with an ominous predictability that Chelsea would win on the weekend sweeping throughout the bar last season.
Our resident Chelsea fans have come up with five reasons why it is indeed their team who are still the best heading into 2015/16.
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Click on the image below to reveal the 5 reasons why Chelsea are still the best club in England.
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Quite simply, they have the best manager
Louis van Gaal, Arsene Wenger and Manuel Pellegrini aren’t Jose Mourinho, simple as that.
No other manager seeks to benefit from every possible advantage like the Blues boss does; after all, this was a man who made a surprise appearance on Sky Sports’ Goals on Sunday programme last season to effectively protest about the below-par performances of referees.
Mourinho now knows English football inside out and how to benefit from an entire plethora of scenarios and in playing the game on the edge like this, it isn’t surprising that Chelsea were out in front from day one last season.
Ultimately, the Portuguese boss knows how to get a consistent performance out of his team on a weekly basis and that is what separates the good clubs from the great ones.
The spine of their team is frightening on paper
A lot is said about Premier League winning team’s boasting a great spine and that is true of Chelsea too.
In Thibaut Courtois, John Terry, Nemanja Matic and Diego Costa, the Blues boast a fantastic foundation of players that is equally supplemented by talented individuals in and around it.
The thing with Chelsea is that they also manage to keep the majority of their players fit for the duration of a campaign to boot and this is something that Arsenal simply haven’t been able to do in recent seasons.
A fit and able squad, Chelsea’s team spirit was spoke about on multiple occasions last term and lets face it, if you’re playing with the same faces week in, week out, the team is bound to benefit from additional squad harmony, trust and determination.
Stamford Bridge is a fortress in every sense
Isn’t it crazy to think that prior to Sunderland earning that shock win at Stamford Bridge in 2013/14, Jose Mourinho boasted a 77-game unbeaten run in charge at Stamford Bridge.
Quite simply, opposition teams wind up at the West London venue simply incapable of getting a result at a ground which is a fortress in every regard.
When watching Soccer Saturday, is it seemingly an inevitability that Chelsea will bag a few goals at home while comfortably dispatching of the lesser teams in the Premier League.
And as for the bigger sides and top four rivals, Chelsea also know how to take care of those battles to boot.
Their adaptability isn’t in question
At the end of the season and particularly in and around the Arsenal fixture at Emirates Stadium, a lot was made of Chelsea being a ‘boring’ side to watch, having learnt how to ‘park the bus’ in a specific set of fixtures.
These jibes are simply born out of bitterness it seems with these critics seemingly having forgot the scintillating performances in which Chelsea produced at the beginning of the campaign whereby Cesc Fabregas and Diegio Costa combined to devastating effect.
The fact of the matter is that Chelsea boast a plan A and a plan B with A being deployed against lesser opposition where they can play expansively and blow the inferior team away while B is utilised where a greater respect is paid to the opposition in a counter-attacking style.
There is nothing wrong with adaptability in football, in fact it is rather admirable.
Perfect mix of youth and experience
When you look at Chelsea’s more recent signings such as Eden Hazard and Oscar, you can tell that the club are building for the future, investing in ready-made young talents while keeping them at Stamford Bridge for the long-term.
That said, Mourinho has kept faith with a specific few indispensable older cogs in his side such as Branislav Ivanovic, John Terry and even Didier Drogba last season.
It seems that this blend of youth and experience is the magic tonic with the younger players being lent valuable experience by the likes of leaders at the club such as Terry.
When it came down to the final few weeks of the season, people who had been there and done it before such as Terry would have proved a valuable asset in the dressing room in terms of getting Chelsea over the line and this factor cannot be undervalued.
