Enzo Maresca, as Chelsea's new manager, has set a sad milestone in pre-season: winning just once in six friendlies. That victory was against champion Mexico Club America, who are currently Ninth in the domestic league for the new season.
Chelsea have also faced champions of England, Spain, Scotland and Italy in their opening matches of the season. In addition, there is Wrexham, a team that was promoted from League Two last season. It was a challenging run for the Blues.
Against Manchester City, Chelsea were behind by 2 goals in 5 minutes. The 2-4 defeat may not have reflected the actual progress of the match and Maresca should be sympathized.
But it's not just the results. There is also a sense of chaos spreading at Stamford Bridge. This is considered the time when Chelsea needs to reap sweet reap after spending more than 1 billion pounds by the American owners.
They have signed contracts with young players to avoid maximum disruption as the project progresses. It is easy to understand that the players will develop their stature at the club. But in the summer of 2024, 9 more players arrived at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea's efforts to get 20-year-old striker Samu Omorodion from Atletico Madrid failed when they could not agree a contract. The Blues then moved to a potential deal with Joao Felix, another Atletico Madrid player.
Talks are also ongoing with Napoli's Victor Osimhen. This means Romelu Lukaku will move in the opposite direction. Lukaku has now spent 6 seasons on the Chelsea squad with a total of 159 matches. However, only 36 of those have been for the Blues as he has been loaned to West Brom, Everton, Inter Milan and AS Roma.
Chelsea's biggest signing this summer has Pedro Neto, bought from Wolves for £51 million. The 24-year-old player has great potential to develop even when his goal output is doubtful. But is Neto's arrival a Chelsea recognition that Raheem Sterling, Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke are failed signings?
Filip Jorgenson has also become the 7th goalkeeper in Chelsea's book. Meanwhile, Omari Kellyman is another difficult contract to explain for The Blues this summer. Perhaps Chelsea's goal is to avoid violating the Premier League Sustainability and Rural Rural Regulations (PSR) rather than professional reasons.
It's easy to forget that Chelsea have played really well in the post-Kuring season last Christmas. They have reached the group that qualified for the Europa League and reached the Carabao Cup final. But Mauricio Pochettino has since left by mutual consent, usually in a negative way.
There are still positive points for Maresca. Cole Palmer played excellently last season, Malo gust was very promising while Marc Cucurella is reviving strongly. Christopher Nkunku also seems to be fully fit after last season's injury problems.
Chelsea are not lacking good players, even a lot. The problem is amid the noise and chaos at Stamford Bridge, is Maresca alert enough?
