Preview of Chelsea’s 2024-25 Season: Four Essential Enquiries In preparation for the upcoming season, the squad is now strategising to achieve their goal of being the greatest.

With each new season, Chelsea consistently undergoes managerial changes and welcomes a multitude of new players. This constant state of flux has been the standard for the club. However, the question remains: will these changes ultimately lead to favourable outcomes on the pitch in the 2024-25 season?

Chelsea are entering their third season under the ownership of Clearlake with Enzo Maresca as their fourth permanent manager. After leading Leicester City to victory in the Championship last season, the Italian manager will utilise his acquired knowledge from his relatively brief career to achieve success with a youthful Chelsea team that has experienced significant transformations both on and off the pitch in recent times.

Currently, it is common to encounter articles about Chelsea that frequently mention the significant amount of money spent and the billion-dollar investments made in relation to both players and non-playing personnel. Moreover, there has been a lot of discussion regarding the utilisation of apparent Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) loopholes to avoid violations. Nevertheless, the club remains unfazed in promoting these discussion topics as they continue to make sales and acquisitions. The Blues have already signed a total of nine new players, and there are still numerous more noteworthy individuals who may potentially depart.

What is the speed at which Maresca can effectively communicate his style to the players?
Considerable attention has been given to the new manager’s ideology, particularly focussing on the style of play being introduced during pre-season friendly. Maresca, having been influenced by Pep Guardiola’s managerial style, favours a deliberate and gradual approach that involves the custodian when the defenders have the ball. In this strategy, a full-back transitions into midfield, resulting in a 3-2-5 configuration while the team is in control.

Captain Reece James or Malo Gusto have been assigned to play as inverted full-backs, a position that may not fully use their skills in creating several offensive opportunities as traditional right-backs. Undoubtedly, Maresca would have preferred more time to train with the players before the start of the season. However, in top-level football, it is unlikely that we will ever see a complete break for all players during the off-season again, especially considering the FIFA Club World Cup’s expansion.

Consequently, Chelsea players have undergone an intensive training program via six friendly matches in preparation for their season opening against reigning champions Manchester City on Sunday. The recent events have been somewhat disorderly, resulting in several errors during gameplay and perhaps serving as valuable learning experiences. In order for Maresca’s team to begin the season with a same level of performance as they had under Mauricio Pochettino in the 2023-24 season, they must ensure that this final week of preparations is of exceptional quality.

What are the key differences between this version of Chelsea and the previous season?
At this point last year, Pochettino found himself in a comparable situation to Maresca, as he endeavoured to introduce his concepts to a youthful Chelsea team in preparation for the demanding challenges of the Premier League.

The Blues had an inconsistent start, winning only one out of their first five games (D2 L2). However, they significantly improved in the new year, with Chelsea experiencing just one loss in their final 15 league matches (W9 D5). Additionally, they reached the EFL Cup final and FA Cup semi-finals, and ended the 2023-24 season with five consecutive wins, securing sixth place. Despite another summer of turmoil, there were reasons to be optimistic, and it is quite likely that these reasons will continue to be relevant until 2024-25.

Chelsea’s intention to play a patient and possession-based style under Maresca is widely known. However, upon deeper examination of Chelsea’s statistics from the previous season, the disparities may not be as significant as some believe.

Upon analysing the passes per sequence and the pace at which Chelsea and Leicester advanced up the pitch, it is evident that there was minimal disparity in the operational approach of both teams during the previous season.

Given the significant focus on Chelsea’s offensive strategy (and the consequent mistakes) during the recent friendly matches, one may assume that they mostly relied on long passes during the previous season and that their current tactical instructions are entirely unfamiliar to them. However, this assumption is incorrect, and there are compelling reasons to assume that Chelsea might improve their performance and gain momentum as the season unfolds. This will likely happen after Maresca finds the crucial individuals and successfully integrates their playing style.

Maresca does not instruct his players to apply strong and aggressive pressing without the ball, unlike Pochettino’s approach with Chelsea in the 2023-24 season. When comparing a Championship club that is dominant and has won titles to a team in the Premier League, it might be challenging. However, the statistics indicate that Chelsea had an average of 12.2 pressured sequences per game, while Leicester had 11.3 previous season. Additionally, Chelsea had more high turnovers per game (9) compared to Leicester (7.9). Leicester had more efficiency in converting those opportunities into goals, scoring 12 times (the highest in the league) compared to the Blues’ five. However, it is important to consider that the quality of the opposing teams may have impacted these statistics.

Maresca seems to prefer a defensive approach, positioning his team deeper and focussing on regaining control in the middle third of the field rather than pushing aggressively. Last season, his Leicester side lost possession in the middle third 23 times per game, while Chelsea lost possession 19 times in the same area. This statement appears to reflect the previous remarks made by the Italian on his team’s high defensive line, which he believes is a logical progression from last season’s tactics. He is currently focused on encouraging his players to defend deeper when they don’t have possession of the ball.

Will the Conference League Enhance or Impede Their Season?
One notable distinction this season, in contrast to the previous one, is that Chelsea will participate in the UEFA Conference League, resulting in an increased number of matches and a more demanding schedule. This situation has the potential to be advantageous or disadvantageous, depending on one’s perspective.

Increasing the number of games will need greater player rotation, and the manager will need to have a great deal of confidence in the whole team in order to effectively motivate them to perform well in both league and cup competitions.

However, a few of these young players will get the opportunity to experience European football for the first time and will be given more opportunities to showcase their abilities as they strive to enhance their skills.

Chelsea team
However, Maresca will require time and patience to establish a harmonious equilibrium within his squad, as well as to determine his preferred team. This is because players such as Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernández, Moisés Caicedo, and Marc Cucurella will not be fully prepared on the first day of the season due to their extensive international commitments during the summer. Additionally, they will be deprived of James, who has been suspended, for their initial three matches.

Undoubtedly, the impact of the Conference League is contingent upon their approach towards it. If Maresca refuses to use rotation, crucial players may get exhausted and less effective while facing tougher opponents in the Premier League.

Given the extensive size of Chelsea’s roster, their substitute choices should, in principle, be enough capable to successfully navigate the group stage of UEFA’s third-tier tournament.

Which player will excel for the Blues during the 2024-25 season?
Christopher Nkunku, who joined Chelsea last summer, will effectively be considered a new addition to the team this season due to his unfortunate string of injuries throughout the 2023-24 season.

Last season, the French player only started two games in the Premier League and made a total of 11 appearances, playing for a total of 437 minutes. Despite the limited playing time, he managed to score three goals. Additionally, he has scored three goals in pre-season friendlies, indicating that he has regained his sharpness for the next season.

At the age of 26, Nkunku is already one of the senior and highly skilled players in the Chelsea team. He joined from RB Leipzig with a stellar reputation and an impressive track record of 70 goals and 45 assists in 172 appearances across all competitions.

Contributions to Nkunku’s goals
Given the multitude of changes during yet another tumultuous summer for Chelsea, it is evidently challenging to precisely delineate what may be feasible or plausible for the next season.

Chelsea has had 35 players that made their Premier League debuts in the previous two seasons, which is 11 more than any other team (excluding teams who were promoted). There will be a significant number of upcoming events in 2024-25. Therefore, it is crucial to observe the progress of the Blues during the campaign. This has been the situation, and maybe the issue, for the last two years.

The new manager will face significant challenges in managing the season due to the intense pressure and numerous external distractions, as they strive to meet the expectations of both the fans and the owners.

Undoubtedly, there will be several fluctuations along the journey, with the expectation that Maresca will be granted the necessary time to discover his optimal team and extract the most potential from the youthful talent at his disposal.

However, Chelsea has been experiencing a scarcity of patience for quite a while now. Given the circumstances, it is possible that Maresca is already facing a certain defeat.