Four games into the Premier League season and it’s a familiar story for those following Chelsea. The Blues are once again languishing in mid-table, though the early stages of the campaign mean week-to-week there are chances for giant leaps and just one win could propel them up the table.
However, it is the lingering sense that even with a new manager and largely new players, the issues ahead of them are still the same. One month in and only Everton have underperformed their xG by a larger number than Chelsea. Although in the long-run it is likely to even out, not being clinical in attack and conceding poor goals at the other end was what cost Graham Potter last season.
Winning the xG battle is hardly enough to convince those that go to watch matches that everything under the surface is actually okay, but what it does do is show that most of the play is up to a good enough standard. Only three clubs – Brentford, Manchester City and Brighton – have registered more xG at this stage of the season and Chelsea’s tally is more than Arsenal or Tottenham, both of whom are ahead of them in the actual table
In fact, when taking into account their xGA (expected goals against) there are only City and Arsenal that have a better performance at this stage. It’s putting the ball in the net that matters though and despite the positivity around Nicolas Jackson he has just one goal to show for his work. Heading to Bournemouth on Sunday he will be aiming to change that.
Like the rest of the side, Jackson is deeply inexperienced and has just one purple patch of form to truly back-up even a more conservative £30million price tag last summer. His back-up, the injured but slowly returning Armando Broja, has even less than that to draw upon.
It leaves, once more like his teammates, much to be relied upon promise rather than proof. Without too much evidence to show, Chelsea are hoping for a best case scenario and the feeling is still that after £1billion spent under Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital, they need a new striker.
According to Italian publication Il Mattino their sights have already been turned to changing that. They report that Napoli’s Victor Osimhen remains a dream piece of business for the Blues and that they will do all they can to bring the 24-year-old marksman to the club next summer.
Osimhen, fresh off a stellar season in Naples where he led them to the league title as top scorer and a new cult hero, already has three in three this term and is only improving his standing in the world game. With a £150million price tag, he won’t come cheap, even if there is no new contract on the table for him to sign.
The breaking point for Chelsea is that they will need Champions League qualification to have any chance of beating off competition for the player. Luckily enough, Pochettino has promised fans just that. Speaking ahead of the trip to the south coast, he said: “Of course with the history of Chelsea, we need to be involved in European competition but that is not in my hands now, that is the reality.
“In our hands now is to work and to try and be in there next season. For sure we are going to be in European competition next season.”
Considering the Blues have shown no sign of being consistent enough or strong enough over 12 months to mount a serious push for the top four, this is quite the statement to make. Chelsea weren’t even in a place to get Europa League football for this campaign but it has left Pochettino with plenty of time to work on his young squad.
“With the circumstances, of course, I think it is better for us because we have 11 or 12 players injured,” he said when asked if it can actually be a boost. “And I think it shows with the squad at the moment. I think we only have 14 or 15 players. I think it’s important that we can recover the players and be competitive.”
This will be a huge advantage for Chelsea, especially as they enter the autumn months without the added load of group stage games and knockout football after Christmas. Short-term pain might be the best way to get long-term gain and if it brings Osimhen with it then it may well just be worth it, too.
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