Chelsea News Story

07 January 2009 22:14 BST

Chelsea - fan's 2008/09 Premier League preview

A supporter's views and expectations for the 2008/09 season.

Last season

Premier League: 2nd - P 38 W 25 D 10 L 3 GF 65 GA 26 GD +39 PTS 85
Champions League: Runners-up – lost to Manchester United on penalties (1-1 AET)
FA Cup: Quarter-finalists - lost 1-0 to Barnsley
League Cup: Runners-up - lost 2-1 AET to Tottenham Hotspur

The manager

The appointment of Luiz Felipe Scolari may have scuppered Portugal's chances of glory at Euro 2008 but it is likely to have exactly the opposite effect at Stamford Bridge.

The tough-talking Brazilian was the big name managerial signing most Blues fans expected after Jose Mourinho's exit last autumn.

He has already wowed journalists with his command of English and soothed many wantaway egos around the Chelsea dressing room.

But in order to surpass the achievements of Mourinho, Scolari will need to get his team playing the attractive football that Roman Abramovich craves and deliver silverware.

Chances of managerial change?

Scolari's long-term contract means even an Avram Grant-style succession of silver medals would not be enough to force him out of west London. For now, at least...

The players

Exits
The much-trailed Stamford Bridge exodus has failed to materialise this summer, with Scolari managing to hang on to Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, two of the club's key players over the last three seasons.

A number of also-ran squad players have moved on, however, with several others – Claudio Pizarro, Juliano Belletti to name a couple – set to follow them out of west London.

Depending on who arrives before the transfer window closes, underperforming wingers Shaun Wright-Phillips and Florent Malouda could also be on their way out.

But, somewhat sadly for many Blues fans, misfiring strikers Nicolas Anelka and Andriy Shevchenko will be given a season by Scolari to turn things around.

New arrivals

Jose Bosingwa and Deco are hardly surprising arrivals considering Scolari's background. Right-back has been a problem position for the Blues in recent years, and a pre-season injury to Bosingwa that will see him miss the Premier League kick-off suggests the full-back curse isn't done yet.

Deco's career had flat-lined at Barcelona but while the 30-year-old does not represent a long-term solution to Chelsea's dearth of midfield creativity he is an undoubted class act and Scolari will ensure he slots perfectly into the Blues set-up.

Needs

Despite the loss of the peerless-in-his-prime Makelele, Chelsea's crop of central midfielders is the strongest in the world, but the club's attack could do with reinforcements.

Robinho and Kaka are the big names continuing to be linked with Stamford Bridge, and could be the perfect solution to the lack of a link-up between midfield and attack.

The fanbase

Scolari's appointment has seen Stamford Bridge reinvigorated with a genuine sense of excitement at what a World Cup winner can do with one of the most talented, expensive squads in the world.

The world-beating, blockbusting signings that Peter Kenyon seems to be discussing at every news conference are conspicuous by their absence and the continued presence of Anelka, Drogba, Shevchenko and Malouda in next year's squad will initially be a contentious issue for most fans.

But Chelsea supporters are not Spurs fans. They know it takes time to build a team. Is there really any point splashing out millions of euros when your squad is already one of the strongest out there? Drogba and Anelka are established Premier League strikers – they may be annoying, but fans need to look past this fact and accept they will get goals this season.

Mourinho's 4-3-3 system is another sticking point, with its frailties exposed last season when the wide players fail to get involved. Therefore it's up to Scolari to satisfy the fans and find the balance between midfield and attack.

Prediction for 2008/09

Last season was a strange one for fans to endure, with supporters instinctively disliking Grant despite his impressive set of results that were almost identical to Mourinho and the emotionally-draining semi-final second-leg defeat of Liverpool that banished a whole lot of ghosts in west London.

If anything the Israeli has raised the bar for Scolari, as in order to match his predecessors' achievements he will either have to reach the Champions League final or win the Premier League title this year.

For the supporters and the board, nothing else will be acceptable.

Chelsea's spending has been relatively restrained this summer, and much of Mourinho's spiteful transfer activity is in the process of being undone.

Sir Alex Ferguson may think Chelsea are over the hill, but the Blues squad that takes to the field next season will be slimmer, better motivated and more cohesive than that which finished second behind Manchester United in the league for the past two seasons.

Memories of Moscow still jar for supporters, so who can imagine how the players themselves feel.

United should beware, because Big Phil is bringing the winning ways back to the Bridge.

Matthew Champion