Chelsea: Title race or little horses and why the answer is yes

Chelsea is playing well and it has some dreaming while others are urging caution on rising expectations. Is this a title race or are they little horses?

Jose Mourinho, long before a mix of expectation and pettiness weighed him down at Manchester United, was once a philosophical man. Some of the things he said could be weird but they always made sense and they were proven true almost as often. Perhaps his most famous line from his second Chelsea stint was about little horses.

Chelsea was doing very well on the back end of the winter slog of 2013/2014. But Mourinho was not having it. He saw the title race between two horses (Manchester City and Liverpool, the eventual first and second placed teams that year) and then his little horse. To Mourinho, the little horse was not ready to race because it needed “milk and to learn how to jump”. But the next season? Mourinho gave a wry smile as he said “maybe next season we can race”. The Blues won 2014/2015 at a canter.

Some Chelsea fans have drawn a line between that comment and the current Chelsea season. This feels like a little horse season that is more about learning and growing than anything else. But with Chelsea going into the last break of the year sitting in third, a point above Manchester City and eight off of Liverpool, some have started dreaming about the what ifs of a title race. The answer to the question of “is Chelsea in a title race or are they little horses?” is increasingly becoming “yes”.

Frank Lampard is playing down on the title race side of things and said in his last presser that the Blues were only looking at themselves, not Manchester City and Liverpool. That gels with expectations going into this season as well. Lampard was not tasked with taking a transfer banned team full of youth to a title race. He was tasked with being competitive, growing, and returning to Champions League. It is the success on all those fronts that has raised the questions as to what is next.

Mourinho’s little horse season was also more or less a title race. Chelsea finished just four points off first place that season. But it was also Chelsea’s first full season with a Roman Abramovich era manager without a trophy. Mourinho came in to get the Blues closer, but few would have expected much more than that right away. But given that Mourinho’s little horse season was also a photo finish, it is not that hard to say Lampard’s year is both as well.

The Special One himself has even downplayed the title race side of things. He worries about the record Chelsea has had against big teams in the Premier League (and other competitions) this season and it is a valid fear. Chelsea cannot be the club in the business of moral victories and while Liverpool and Manchester United did not play Chelsea off the pitch in any game, Chelsea still lost. Even the current run is mostly against teams Chelsea should be beating.

The players will be fighting to go as far as they can but this is hardly the peak for any of them. Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori, Reece James, Christian Pulisic, and Callum Hudson-Odoi are all very young and will only get better next season. So if the Blues can count themselves in the title race this year with their little horses, what does that say about next season? Or the season after?

The fans can never stray too far from the initial expectations this season. But it is hard to deny something special is happening at Chelsea. While Lampard and Mourinho will play things down, looking in the mirror may just take things to the finish line if things continue as they have. And next season? Whoa.