Putting too much weight onto pre-season results is a perennial trap that must be avoided. But while alarm bells may not yet be ringing at Chelsea, their performances during their US tour so far will have many fans concerned that a summer of off-field upheaval has brought further problems on the pitch.
New boss Enzo Maresca shrugged that his side “are going to concede goals” with the play-out-from-the-back style he is trying to impose after defensive errors saw Chelsea struggle to a 2-2 draw with League One Wrexham in their first outing Stateside.
But letting in four against Celtic was probably beyond his acceptable allowance.
In both games – with all the caveats of pre-season in place – Chelsea looked open, unsure and error-prone. Whether it was Wrexham or Celtic forwards, there was repeatedly space in behind to exploit – or Chelsea defenders giving the ball back to the opposition in dangerous areas.
“We are still confusing things on the ball and off the ball,” Maresca admitted after that Celtic loss. “It is normal in this moment when we are trying to do something new,” he added.
That, though, is the frustration. Chelsea finished last season with five wins on the spin after reaching a Carabao Cup final. At the moment it finally felt like it might be coming together for Mauricio Pochettino, his project was terminated and, it seems, Chelsea have returned to square one.
A new style, more new players, and, once again, a new manager. Maresca is the sixth man to take on the head coach role – interim or otherwise – since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital took control of the club two years ago.
Unlike his permanent predecessors, Maresca has no experience in top-flight football management. He has been the main man in the dugout for just a season and a half, first with Parma in the second tier in Italy and then, victoriously, with Leicester in the Championship last season. But the Italian, who honed his coaching skills under the guidance of Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, will be in no doubt about the scale of club he is operating at now.
Maresca has already had to field questions about Enzo Fernandez’s condemned chanting while away with Argentina. He was keen to insist the matter had been dealt with, although captain Reece James – having initially agreed with that sentiment – later admitted it “could be a problem” when Fernandez joins up with the group.
James has been stepping into midfield as part of Maresca’s innovations but his status as skipper has also been a question for the new boss. So far Maresca has only committed to saying the right-back will be “one of the captains”, while his decision to omit fellow defender and academy graduate Trevoh Chalobah from the touring squad has been criticised by areas of the fanbase. The topic of Chalobah’s absence – with his sale looking likely – has only been pushed further into the spotlight by the defending on show from Chelsea in their friendlies so far.
Another issue at the back is in goal, where the imminent recruitment of Filip Jorgensen suggests Chelsea could dispense with the idea of Robert Sanchez – signed last summer for £25m – as their No1, with Djordje Petrovic, who displaced Sanchez in the second half of last season, also seeing his future cast into doubt while he misses the tour with an injury.
Jorgensen would be new-signing number seven under Maresca and when you throw into the mix the complete re-shaping of the club’s academy, with the departures of long-serving leaders Neil Bath and Jim Fraser, and transfer speculation around one of the standout graduates from that system in recent years, Conor Gallagher, uncertainty about where Chelsea are headed feels like the theme going into the season.
Maresca’s Premier League bow couldn’t be much tougher, with Chelsea facing four-time defending champions Manchester City on the opening weekend, while, among the sides expected to push for Champions League football, only Arsenal (marginally) have a tougher first six games than the Blues, based on last season’s league finishing positions.
A run of Liverpool, Newcastle, Man Utd and Arsenal back-to-back after the October international breaks looks particularly gruelling.
At Leicester, Maresca got off to a flyer, winning 13 of his first 14 Championship matches. He’s likely to find the game far tougher this coming term.
He will no doubt look to the positives that, in both games in the US, Chelsea have dominated possession and out-shot their opponents. Christopher Nkunku has found the net in each match, a fillip given his injury issues last season, similarly Romeo Lavia is heading towards full fitness, while Barcelona buy Marc Guiu has caught the eye.
But with this midweek’s match-up with Mexican champions Club America followed by tough tests against Man City, Real Madrid and Inter Milan, Maresca will be hoping to see a significant step up from his side to quieten the detractors before the real business starts for Chelsea, live on Sky Sports, on August 18 against Guardiola’s title-holders.
By then, the glare of scrutiny will be unavoidable.
Chelsea’s remaining pre-season schedule
July 25: Chelsea 2-2 Wrexham
July 27: Chelsea 1-4 Celtic
August 1: Chelsea vs Club America – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, kick-off 12am
August 3: Chelsea vs Man City – Ohio Stadium, Columbus, kick-off 10.30pm
August 7: Chelsea vs Real Madrid – Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, kick-off 12am
August 11: Chelsea vs Inter Milan – Stamford Bridge, kick-off 3pm
Chelsea’s difficult dozen: Opening Premier League fixtures for Maresca
August 18: Chelsea vs Man City – kick-off 4.30pm – live on Sky Sports
August 25: Wolves vs Chelsea – kick-off 2pm
September 1: Chelsea vs Crystal Palace – kick-off 1.30pm
September 14: Bournemouth vs Chelsea – kick-off 8pm – live on Sky Sports
September 21: West Ham vs Chelsea – kick-off 12.30pm
September 28: Chelsea vs Brighton – kick-off 3pm
October 5: Chelsea vs Nottingham Forest – kick-off 3pm
October 19: Liverpool vs Chelsea – kick-off 3pm
October 26: Chelsea vs Newcastle – kick-off 3pm
November 2: Man Utd vs Chelsea – kick-off 3pm
November 9: Chelsea vs Arsenal – kick-off 3pm
November 23: Leicester vs Chelsea – kick-off 3pm
