Chelsea’s surprises of the season (for now): Who saw all this coming?
No one really knew what to expect when Chelsea sold Eden Hazard and hired Frank Lampard for a season where they couldn’t buy any players. Here are some of the bigger surprises.
No two seasons are ever the same, but few seasons are as different from any other as this one. From the youth revolution to the fact that we’re doing end-of-season articles in mid-March because a global pandemic has shut down the sport world, Chelsea are clearly continuing their 115-year streak of thrilling their faithful.
Manchester United’s “treble” (Kevin Peacock)
Losing three games to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United has been disappointing, to say the least. Quite how the Blues have managed it is hard to fathom.
Solksjaer is becoming a thorn in Chelsea’s side and as annoying a manager as he was a player.
As we forget about 2019/20 we can look forward to taking Manchester United on with a rejuvenated squad next time around, and hopefully getting the rub of the green. VAR heavily influenced at least one of those wins, so hopefully some tweaks to how the Premier League uses VAR will hamper VARchester United’s progress next season.
Billy Gilmour (Varun Dani)
Right from his assured performances in preseason to his debut in the Premier League, one thing was certain: Billy Gilmour is not an ordinary player.
His physical attributes make people question his ability to hang in the big leagues, but watching him play you understand that his football acumen is truly elite.
It was then rather surprising to see his lack of involvement for most of the season until his start against the supposed best team in the world (Liverpool) courtesy of Jorginho’s suspension (#myregista, at it again).
But when his chance did come, boy did he take it.
Under the bright lights of Stamford Bridge, Gilmour took apart Jurgen Klopp’s team, masterfully controlling the game with his feisty tackles and precise passing. To ensure that Twitter warriors don’t label it as a one-off, Goatmour, er, Gilmour proceeded to dominate Liverpool’s Merseyside neighborhood in not-at-all-coincidentally Chelsea’s best performance under Frank Lampard, racking up back-to-back man of the match awards.
In a season where it’s often debated who the brightest young talent has been between Tammy Abraham, Reece James, Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori, Billy Gilmour has surprising become Chelsea’s most coveted jewel.
Reece James (Nate Hofmann)
People knew Reece James was good. But for him to recover from a serious ankle surgery and immediately start putting in man of the match performances? Even the biggest Chelsea optimist would’ve struggled to buy into that narrative in August.
Going forward, he’s already among the best fullbacks in the Premier League. As a defender, there’s plenty of room for improvement, but you couldn’t assign him a better mentor than Cesar Azpilicueta.
More. Chelsea's players of the season (for now): Experience overtakes youth. light
Of the current options, he should be the only nailed-on starter in Chelsea’s back line heading into next season. And he’s an absolute unit for a 20-year-old.
N’Golo Kante’s long list of injuries (Abhishek Pancholi)
Until this season, N’Golo Kante was thought to be superhuman, incapable of feeling fatigue, pain and sadness. The ever-smiling Frenchman has been an ever-present in the trophy-winning Chelsea sides of the past few years.
A Chelsea midfield without N’Golo Kante just didn’t look or feel right.
Unfortunately, Kante has been beset by a litany of injuries this season, severely limiting his time and impact on the field. For someone as reliable as Kante to become injury-plagued in just a few months is easily one of the surprises of the season.
More. N'Golo Kante's injury necessary context for Ruben Loftus-Cheek's. light
Coronavirus halts Chelsea’s season in mid-March (George Perry)
I’ve built my reputation on always being right about everything and seeing things coming way in advance (at least since spring 2018 – there’s some really dumb, really wrong stuff in the archive before that). But I didn’t see this whole COVID 19 coming.
Good thing that’s not my job. That’s why I stay in my lane: I’m wrong enough on the things I’m read and recognized for. Why make myself look more wrong by diddling elsewhere with a non-transferable guise of authority?
Next. Chelsea's moments of the season (for now): It's Frank Lampard's Blue world. dark