Having spent the last few weeks competing in a plethora of tournaments, the weekend saw Chelsea return to the competition that is every football club’s lifeblood. The Premier League title is what defines the strength of a team. It separates the men from the boys. The Blues have been good enough to pick up that prestigious title, in the Premier League era, five times. Never mind the old First Division title in 1955, we didn’t exist back then, apparently.
Burnley, Saturday’s opponent, always provides a stern test up to the point where the Clarets simply don’t. In the end, Thomas Tuchel’s side easily swept aside Sean Dyche’s band of brothers. Looking ahead, Chelsea now has a run of games that, on paper, look eminently winnable. Next up, on a day normally reserved for the Europa League, is Norwich City. The Canaries are currently supporting the league table from the bottom.
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There’s not much love for the Norfolk side in these parts. These feelings stem from the club’s supporters suggesting back in December via song that our shining light, Billy Gilmour, return to Chelsea in a most ungracious way. We would have happily granted them their wish were it not for the fact that a spell with the ne’er-do-wells is character building. Wee Billy will be able to watch his mother club from the stands, surreptitiously celebrating his current club’s demise.
If Chelsea is to ever pick up the Premier League trophy again, there will need to be a change of some personnel and fortune. The second of which is in the balance. Whilst we wait to find out who the new owners will be, a game at Carrow Road beckons. Here are three things to look for in the Blues’ trip to basement boys Norwich:
1. Thomas Tuchel in firing line again
When out-going owner Roman Abramovich pulled the plug on Frank Lampard’s Chelsea career, it was difficult to imagine how the club could move forward. Just over a year later and I don’t think there are many that would swap him for the current incumbent. Of course, we all wanted Lampard to do well, but whatever you may think of our Russian owner, he was never one to allow the club into free-fall. We always knew that. The former PSG man was bought in to move the club forward.
These last few weeks have seen Tuchel effectively become the face of Chelsea FC, perhaps more than any other manager before him. He has behaved and spoken impeccably throughout the recent issues concerning the club’s owner. Those that sit above the German remain, for the most part, anonymous, not daring to rock the boat. Tuchel has no choice but to front up, week-on-week, to a ravenous media intent on a scoop.
Pre-match and post-match the same questions will be fired at him with each inquisitor hoping to trip him up. After the Burnley game, Tuchel had to speak about a section of the Blues support that sang Abramovich’s name during what should have been a respectful support for the people of Ukraine; currently being bombarded by Russia. He handled that situation in a way that belies the foreign tongue with which he speaks. Whoever the new owners are, they should make Tuchel’s contract extension a priority.