Following Chelsea’s hard worked draw at home to Manchester City, is the title already in the hands of Jose Mourinho’s men? Being top of the Premier League with a squad as talented and experienced as Chelsea’s is, it’s hard to see anyone catch them. Mourinho’s mind games and the football the team show on the pitch is sensational and would take a miracle for Chelsea to slip up their dominant position.
The biggest danger to the Blues’ title challenge so far was if City were able to steal all three points when they visited Stamford Bridge, however with a 1-1 tough fought draw being the result, Chelsea remained in control of the Premier League. A City win would’ve closed the gap between themselves and the leaders; however Chelsea’s resolute defence restricted City to only scoring one goal, despite creating plenty of chances.
Chelsea and City seem to be the only sides in the top four that are on paper likely to have secured their spots in the Champions League next year with the sides such as Manchester United, Southampton, Arsenal and Tottenham all trailing behind due to their lack of consistency and purely due to the skill Chelsea and City possess with a strong squad and reserves. Although Southampton have been the surprise package of the season as they were tipped for relegation, I can’t see their squad being able to maintain the exceptional form they’ve shown this season at times and if they were to qualify for the Champions League, I think it would hinder their performances next season.
The two London sides Spurs and the Gunners are both also in contention for the valued Champions League places, however it would take a complete disaster and breakdown at Chelsea for them to drop enough points for either of these two sides to show any real danger of title contentions. Whereas, at Man United the players are still adapting to manager Louis Van Gaal but are still securing victories and showing massive potential for the forthcoming seasons, however this season similarly with the other side’s battling for a top four finish, it’s hard to see Chelsea follow in the same footsteps Liverpool did last season; this season it’s Chelsea’s title to lose.
Prior to the humiliating FA Cup fourth round defeat to Bradford, there was small talk of Chelsea completing the impressive accomplishment of a quadruple winning the Premier League, Capital One Cup, FA Cup and also the Champions League. However, showing excellent signs of progression in the other competitions apart from the FA Cup, the loss to Bradford could prove beneficial in Chelsea quest to League glory. Too many games in one season could infact jeopardise the squad as players become more fatigued and risk injury, the squad now can attain more focus on League success.
Chelsea bolstered their exceptional squad even more during the transfer window when the completed the signing of Colombian winger Juan Cuadrado from Italian side Fiorentina and also Andre Schurrle join a strong Wolfsburg side. Diego Costa’s debut season has been a memorable one so far scoring hatricks, terrorising defences and also stamping on Liverpool players, however it was a smart move brining him into the club and having a formidable force up front with Eden Hazard and now Cuadrado on the wings, supported from behind by the world class midfield of Cesc Fabregas, Oscar and Nemanja Matic. Mourinho’s side looks stronger than it ever has done in the last decade, with a midfield that could hold possession and play the final balls through to their clinical strike force, scoring goals and winning games has just became one step easier with the addition of Cuadrado.
One of the most exciting prospects in football in the modern day is Belgium keeper Thibaut Courtois, still only 22 and one of the most established goalkeepers in the game today, Courtois already has a Champions League final in his experience and a Liga BBVA winner’s medal. The youngster has seven league clean sheets to his name this season and has displayed some incredible performances in goal, with a solid, experienced defence in front of him and quickly progressing back up defenders in the likes of Kurt Zouma, Chelsea’s squad and game plan seem unbeatable. Achieving even a draw against a side that has an all round world class team is unlikely, they have an attack that can break down any defence in the world and a defence that holds their shape and is an extremely difficult task to break them down, which is why the title this season is Chelsea’s to lose.
Every asset to the Chelsea squad, staff and performances on and off the pitch are all assests of true, deserved Champions and performing nearly week in week out, it will be a giant shock to the nation to see Chelsea let this one with it being in the palm on their hands. Although we’ve seen many twists, shocks and upsets in the history of the Premier League, they look set and on course to achieve their fourth Premier League title.