Circumstances surrounding Chelsea highlight need for understanding

Supporting Chelsea has been a rollercoaster ride for the last few seasons, to say the least. Almost three years removed from a transfer ban that opposing fans believed would cripple the club, the Blues are amongst the best teams in Europe. Thomas Tuchel has guided his new club to three trophies (UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup) in 14 months and he looks hungry for more as he has his side making deep runs in every competition.

Chelsea fans have fallen in love with the manager, despite the overall failure of the team to meet their preseason expectations. These near-impossible standards have been set over the last two decades by owner Roman Abramovich and each manager who fails to meet them is often sacked. Supporters have picked up this ruthless attitude and run with it, leading to some harsh coaching criticisms over the years. Nevertheless, context is everything. The expectations set out for Tuchel before the campaign are not the same as those fans have now. Supporters have done well to factor circumstances into their ever-changing goals for the German gaffer and his Blues.

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Chelsea fans’ expectations need to be adjusted to account for current situation

As alluded to earlier in the piece, Chelsea fans have incredibly high expectations for their team. The Champions League victory and subsequent club record purchase of striker Romelu Lukaku (£97.5 million from Inter Milan) had supporters believing the Blues’ “rebuild”—as Frank Lampard often called it—was complete. The Belgian was supposed to be the final piece to the puzzle that’d help Chelsea challenge for its first league title since the 2016/17 campaign. However, it’s safe to say that things haven’t quite gone according to plan up to this point.

For starters, Lukaku has struggled heavily to adapt to Tuchel’s tactics. Kai Havertz has seemingly become the Blues’ talisman up top recently due to his scorching hot form. Lukaku hasn’t been a complete flop, he’s scored 12 goals and tallied two assists in 34 games across all competitions, but the 28-year-old hasn’t lived up to his price tag. Further, he and a lot of other important players have missed time through injury and COVID-19. Ben Chilwell has been out since late November, Reece James missed a few months and the attack has been forced to chop and change constantly due to absences. As if those aren’t enough obstacles to hurdle, the entire club has been hit with sanctions by the UK government due to Abramovich’s association with Vladimir Putin.

All of these factors have impacted the Blues in one way or another. While they haven’t quite met the expectations laid out by some at the beginning of the season, fans have taken this into account when judging the job done by Tuchel in his first full campaign in charge of Chelsea. The 48-year-old has been a remarkable leader both on and off the pitch this year. He’s also been an incredible spokesperson for the club amidst this current crisis, in addition to elevating his team into the upper echelons of European football.

Regardless of all the noise and inconveniences, Tuchel has his team firing on all cylinders. The Blues have won two trophies already this season with the possibility for three more (two, realistically speaking). The only competition he’s failed to win thus far was the Carabao Cup, where Chelsea reached the final and lost 11-10 on penalties due to the No. 2 keeper missing a penalty kick. It’s impossible to come any closer to lifting a piece of silverware than that.

It’s also unlikely the Blues will cover the Premier League trophy with royal blue ribbons this season. They went into winter atop the league table with injuries ultimately derailing the title chase. Liverpool and Manchester City have been ruthless in their pursuit of the trophy, leaving Chelsea to lag behind just a bit. Despite the rough patch in December and January, the Blues are still just 11 points back of the league leader with a game in hand. They have distanced themselves from the other top four contenders, as well. This may not have been as successful a domestic campaign as many had hoped for to kickoff the season, it’s hard to dub it a failure though.

Elsewhere, Tuchel has Chelsea into the quarterfinals of the Champions League, where it will square off against Real Madrid for a chance to further its title defense. The Blues also reached their fifth FA Cup semifinals in the last six years with a win over Middlesbrough last weekend. There is still a strong possibility that Chelsea could win four trophies this season and finish comfortably within the top four in the Premier League. It goes without saying this would be the best season in the club’s storied history, despite challenging circumstances.

All of this goes to show that even though the Blues have fallen short (to a certain extent) in the league this season, they have still been wildly successful. Tuchel is undoubtedly the man to lead Chelsea Football Club into the uncertainty of a new era under new ownership and he deserves all of the praise in the world for the job he’s done thus far.

What have you made of the Blues’ season thus far? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!