At the time of writing, Chelsea were embarking on a Bank Holiday Monday journey up to Manchester United in a huge Premier League fixture between two underperforming giants of the English game.
And who knows, the time this article is published, huge ramifications may have already taken their course with Louis van Gaal under huge pressure for a positive result at Old Trafford after another humbling in the Red Devils dour 2-0 defeat away at Stoke City on Bxoing Day.
For Chelsea on the other hand, they drew 2-2 with high flying Watford at Stamford Bridge in an exciting encounter whereby Blues supporters were left feeling absolutely pig sick at the fact Oscar skied a penalty that would’ve surely brought three much-needed points under the new Guus Hiddink regime.
The point left Chelsea neither hear, nor there with the Blues still facing a monumental battle to finish in the top four this season.
In Chelsea’s two home fixtures since Jose Mourinho’s dismissal however, we’ve seen the Blues play with more freedom than previously with Oscar returning to his former glories in the game against Sunderland where he was excellent while Diego Costa rediscovered his scoring touch with a brace against the Hornets.
While it seems clearly apparent that certain players simply weren’t trying under the Mourinho regime this term, Chelsea aren’t out of the woods yet with Costa missing from the United game due to a stupid suspension foolishly picked up late on against Watford.
We’re taking this moment to devise a list of Chelsea fans’ five biggest fears in the remainder of the 2015/16 campaign.
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Click on the image below to reveal Chelsea fans’ five biggest fears this 2015/16 campaign.
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Jose Mourinho rocking up as the new Manchester United manager
As we mentioned at the outset, at the time this article was written, there was huge stakes riding on the Manchester United versus Chelsea fixture with Louis van Gaal walking a tightrope in terms of remaining in charge.
With Jose Mourinho the 4/7 favourite to take the reigns at Old Trafford according to the bookies on December 28th, it would be an absolute nightmare situation for Blues supporters to see their beloved Special One grace the touchline of enemy territory at Old Trafford.
But given the way in which Roman Abramovich dismissed Mourinho for a second time despite the Portuguese’s intentions to turn it around at Stamford Bridge, proving himself on a first hand basis in this country with a rival side could be on Jose’s mind.
While Mourinho will always have respect for Chelsea supporters and wouldn’t taunt them directly, the former Blues boss needs to rebuild his own reputation and the United job is one he reportedly wanted prior to David Moyes’ appointment as Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor.
Chasing European qualification was nothing more than a pipedram
At the time this article was written, Chelsea were placed 15th in the Premier League table, 13 points off fourth placed Tottenham Hotspur.
An incredible tally for Guus Hiddink to make up, the feeling amongst Blues supporters was that the wise old Dutchman would given European qualification a fair old crack considering he only lost one game as Chelsea manager in his first Blues spell.
That said, this is a completely different side to the one Hiddink left behind last time and with sides such as Watford no longer fazed by trips to Stamford Bridge in an ever-competitive Premier League, Chelsea’s faint European hopes could merely prove a pipedream that was never going to come true after their terrible start.
In all honesty, if Europa League qualification was all the Blues could secure in failing to breach the top four, perhaps Chelsea fans would rather their club missed out on Europe altogether with the Europa League having proved a detriment to qualifying for the Champions League the next season.
Just ask Tottenham Hotspur fans!
An injury to key performer Willian
In performance terms this season, no Chelsea player will be trumping Willian as the Blues’ player of the season so far.
A clear disciple of Jose Mourinho, the Brazilian international has been arguably the ONLY Chelsea player to maintain his levels from last season this term with the player always playing on the front foot.
Scoring cracking free-kicks away at Porto and Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Champions League, Willian’s consistent performances have been a bright spot in an otherwise dull 2015/16 campaign for the Blues and an injury to him would definitely hinder Chelsea as they play catch up.
If Eden Hazard continues to look jaded under Hiddink’s wing
The microscope has been cast on Eden Hazard this season like never before after the Belgian international looked a lost soul in the Jose Mourinho regime following his PFA Player of the Year triumph last term.
Chelsea fans hit rock bottom when the Belgian international requested to be substituted away at Leicester City a few weeks ago in the loss that ultimately broke Mourinho and the player has since been singled out for criticism by the club’s own fans.
The feeling amongst our Blues supporters in the tavern is that for all his shortcomings this term, Hazard is still a world class talent who if sold, would definitely do a Romelu Lukaku or Kevin De Bruyne in massively succeeding elsewhere.
That’s why Chelsea fans are so keen for Hazard to turnaround his poor form while showing Blues supporters what he can do in the remainder of the campaign to prove to them, Hiddink and Roman Abramovich that he deserves to stick around and won’t be sold to a rival side or abroad in the summer.
If Chelsea fail to overcome Paris Saint-Germain for a second successive season
There were groans amongst the Chelsea faithful here in the tavern when the draw for the knockout stages of the Champions League paired the Blues with French champions Paris Saint-Germain for a third successive season.
Overcoming Laurent Blanc’s side courtesy of an away goal back in the 2013/14 season, 2014/15 was one to forget for Jose Mourinho with David Luiz coming back to haunt the Blues at Stamford Bridge.
Proving a stiff competitor for Chelsea in the last few seasons, Guus Hiddink knows his side will have to be perfect to overcome the Ligue 1 giants this time around but that said, the Blues have performed better when away from their Premier League troubles in Europe this term.
Failure to surpass PSG this time however would mean all the Blues would have to concentrate on is the FA Cup which in all honesty will always be third in line in a list of priorities behind both the Premier League and Champions League.
Make no mistake however; salvaging ANY silverware out of this particular campaign for Chelsea supporters won’t be sniffed at, not one jot!
