So, that was a huge disappointment. On many levels. But rather than dwell on it, I’ll prefer right now to simply look at where we are, and where we need to be. Which is 4th. I took a look at some recent seasons for both Chelsea and other clubs, based on certain criteria.
- Pep’s first season with City, 2016/17
- Klopp’s season last year with Liverpool, 2017/18
- Chelsea’s season last year, as well as Mourinho’s first season in stint 2, Rafa’s finish, and Carlo’s second season
I simply grabbed where each was after 34 league matches, and put them together in a table:
As can be seen, while yes, we have the worst differential of all seven of these entries, in terms of points we are tied with Pep’s first year, and ahead of both 2017/18 Chelsea and 2012/13 Chelsea. And only one point off of Carlo’s second year.
Obviously things change, and lately there are SEVERAL good teams, so the old “Top 4” has now become a “Top 6” which is far worse, as only four get CL football (barring winning the CL or EL).
But I’ll also argue that in what’s clearly a more competitive season, whether you’ve enjoyed our play or hated it, in terms of results we are both figuratively and literally ahead of where we were last year. Which is a tough pill to swallow if you’ve not been of this season’s play or leadership.
Should we accept where we are? I don’t think so. Just being better than last season isn’t good enough for the long term viability and expectations of the club. But the reality is that right now we are in fact better than last year. Sure, we are still able to screw that up, and fall, and fall hard, but there are a lot of folks out there right now with some serious blinders on, looking for any way possible to discredit the current season mainly out of personal bias, and trying to disregard the facts and results right now.
It’s an odd time to be a Chelsea supporter.
