This 2022 off-season has been an interesting one for Chelsea from the transfer portal, their preseason tour, and more. Looking through premier league predictions today, Chelsea is predicted to have another struggling season as many predict them to be fourth in the Premier League standings. Chelsea’s fixtures for the 2022/23 Premier League season have been officially confirmed, with Everton, Leeds, and Tottenham their first three opponents.
Their 2021/22 season was a difficult one, with injuries, cup final defeats, and off-field issues playing a big part in their season that led them to finish third in the standings. After losing big names, including Antonio Rudiger, this football squad could be due for a season like last year and possibly even worse. With the season upcoming, Chelsea will be looking for another attacker, but they will need to make the most of their current roster if they can’t come up with one.
Coach Recent Frustrations
With the preseason tour wrapping up, it has been frustrating for Chelsea as they’ve been playing games in the U.S. Most recently, they played Arsenal in Orlando, FL, which ended in a 4-0 defeat for Chelsea. Head coach Thomas Tuchel voiced his opinion on the team and suggested they may not be ready for the season opener on August 6th. “I am far from relaxed,” Tuchel commented. “We were simply not good enough. We were simply not competitive.”
Tuchel also added that Chelsea “deserved to lose” and that “The worrying part is that the level of commitment physically and mentally for this match was far higher for Arsenal than for us, which we lack because we have a lot of players who think about leaving, are looking for other options, and we have players who left. I think this at the moment is obvious.” That is not a good thing to hear from your head coach just before the start of the season. One thing he is not wrong about is players leaving, as guys like César Azpilicueta, Marcos Alonso, Jorginho, Christian Pulisic, Hakim Ziyech, and Timo Werner have been swirling around the rumor mill. These are the players within this group who may have mentally checked out, in Tuchel’s mind.
Preseason Tour
Outside of their 4-0 loss to Arsenal on July 23rd, Chelsea played against Club America on July 17th at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, which resulted in a 2-1 win. Timo Werner opened up the scoring early in the second half, but a Reece James own goal evened things up. Mason Mount would eventually get the game-winner in the closing minutes of the game.
Following their game against Club America, Chelsea then faced Charlotte FC in Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. This is where Chelsea’s struggle began to unfold as the game resulted in a 1-1 defeat where they lost 5-3 in a penalty shootout. Christian Pulisic opened the scoring in the first half, but an injury penalty from Charlotte’s Daniel Rios sent the game into a shootout where Conor Gallagher missed the all-important spot kick.
Chelsea’s final preseason tour match is set for July 29th against Udinese at Stadio Friuli in Udine, Italy. These two teams met in the preseason 21 years ago, which resulted in a 1-1 draw. This will be Chelsea’s final opportunity to get things together before the season opener on August 6th. Following coach Tuchel’s comments, hopefully, this team can be woken up as the latest premier league predictions are not looking good for this team.
Final Thoughts
With a brutal offseason and now struggling preseason tour, this Chelsea squad hopes they can capture some of last year’s magic which resulted in a finals appearance. With players leaving and potentially more to follow, the future’s looking grim for Chelsea, and it has been voiced clearly by coach Thomas Tuchel. Many of the premier league picks are against Chelsea, with many predicting a last-place finish for them in the Premier League standings. If Chelsea can add one more weapon and get their confidence up before the start of the season, they can prove their doubters wrong, but if not, the last-place finish could end up being their destiny for the 2022/23 campaign.
