Romelu Lukaku has returned to Chelsea to finish the business he started before he left in 2014 and I’m genuinely excited for it. Diego Costa was the last actual No. 9 we had and though he went off the rails eventually, prime Costa was something to behold. The Blues’ transfer policy is mostly imperious, however, their failure to land a top-class striker since the Brazilian born Spaniard’s departure has hampered the club’s push for Premier League supremacy.
There are those who were crying out for the club to announce Erling Haaland as our new frontman, who, on Bundesliga form would have been outstanding. We’ve seen with Timo Werner and Kai Havertz that the transition is not as easy in reality as it looks on Football Manager. Whilst the statisticians endlessly quote Haaland highs, he may have found replicating them much harder in Europe’s toughest league. Lukaku will slot seamlessly into Chelsea’s starting XI. His presence will only push the rest of the team to higher levels.
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Chelsea has finally found its No. 9 in Romelu Lukaku and the Blues will soar after the Super Cup victory.
Whilst Romelu Lukaku was busy dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s on his new Chelsea contract, his new club was going about business in its usual fashion. The Blues have only ever tasted victory in the Super Cup once back in 1998. They’ve appeared in it on a number of occasions though. Not many people know our new striker’s last appearance the first time around was in the 2013 Super Cup final, where he missed the last penalty of the shootout that saw Bayern Munich emerge victorious.
Thomas Tuchel started the game against Villarreal with a pretty strong line-up. Great to see one the stars of another shortened preseason, Trevoh Chalobah, get a game under his belt. It remains to be seen whether he stays with the club or heads out on loan. The game itself saw Chelsea start strongly. Hakim Ziyech, someone else who has done well through the summer, grabbed the opening goal. The Morrocan, sadly, left the field injured and will miss a few games over the coming weeks.
Villarreal improved as the game went on as Chelsea ran out of steam. Inevitably, the Spanish side equalised and an unnecessary 30 minutes of extra-time ensued. With the game heading for a penalty shootout, Tuchel, backed by his team of statisticians, pulled a masterstroke by replacing Edouard Mendy with Kepa Arrizabalaga. The Spanish shot-stopper’s penalty-saving ability was deemed greater than Mendy’s. A risk for Tuchel and a move that could have left German with ‘ei auf seinem gesicht’ (egg on his face).
Arrizabalaga has not had it easy since his record move, but he fully deserved the plaudits received for making the saves that secured the win. Tuchel’s gamble paid off and Chelsea starts the Premier League season with a real, bonafide, proper trophy in the cabinet. A meritorious word of congratulations must go to a player who has not always been top of this writer’s list of Chelsea greats: Jorginho. The Brazilian born Italian (what is it with these Brazilian born footballers who have to change nationality?) holds three European titles right now. A Ballon d’Or surely awaits (semi-serious).
Chelsea’s push for another Premier League title begins on Saturday with a home game against fellow Londoners—not really rivals—Crystal Palace. The talk will be of Lukaku and of course that will be great, but Tuchel and the players need to concentrate on getting the first three points of the season, as I’m sure they will.
With supporters once again returning to stadiums, post pandemic, Chelsea left it somewhat late to begin alterations to sections of Stamford Bridge to allow for safe standing. With a matter of hours before the game, the potential is that some seats sold will be unavailable. With corporate seats still available, it would surely be good for the club to use these for those displaced supporters.
On the subject of allowing people back into the ground, it would be great if the club’s owner, Roman Abramovich, could do so. Throughout the pandemic, Chelsea Football Club has gone above and beyond the call of duty to support the NHS and local community. From allowing the hotels on site for hospital staff to use free of charge to aiding the administration of vaccines, the Blues have truly done it all. Of course, as a mere fan it’s easy for me to look beyond the political reasoning behind Abramovich’s expulsion from the UK, but the truth is, I think he should be in the stadium supporting his team.