Chelsea 2020/21 review: A season full of highs and lows

Chelsea came into the season with a lot of expectations. They had spent the money they got from the sale of Eden Hazard and were looking to finally leap from being a top-four team to title contenders.

They bought quite a few players — Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, Ben Chilwell, Thiago Silva, Eduoard Mendy — all joined Chelsea in the summer of 2020. Everyone but Thiago Silva and Ziyech (Ziyech wasn’t young, but he wasn’t old either) was young and all of them had a lot of potential.

I was predicting a top two or three finish at the very least. I expected them to be somewhat title challengers but still be at a distance from the winners.

With the recent signings and the way they played without the new players in previous seasons (4th in 2019-20, 3rd in 2018-19 and 5th in 2017-18) it was fair to expect this much from them.

Chelsea’s season almost collapsed with Lampard but got saved by Tuchel

Chelsea’s season was interesting, to say the very least. It definitely had a lot of highs and a lot of lows, but after the managers’ shift, they got the job done.

They finished at 4th place, just a point above Leicester City, securing a place in the next season’s Champions League. If Leicester had won their last game, Chelsea wouldn’t have finished in top four spots. They just made it.

Under Lampard, things weren’t as good as people thought. After a good start, they started showing their imperfections, and teams started to figure them out very well. Shortly after, all hell broke loose, Lampard got sacked, Tuchel came in, saved the day. You know the drill.

The Positives and negatives from the season

There were a lot of positives that I would take out from their season. For one, they had a great defensive record, and that’s mainly due to their performances after Tuchel’s arrival. Chelsea kept 18 clean sheets this season, which was second highest in the Premier League.

They were excellent in defense, playing three at the back. The pressing was a lot more systematic and efficient, and we started seeing a lot of players play the way they are supposed to.

There were low points under Tuchel as well, though. There has been a clear lack of goal scoring, considering all the firepower that they have. They scored the least goals out of all of the Premier League’s top seven teams, scoring just 58 in 38 games.

Tuchel (and Lampard) hasn’t got the best out of the new signings so far, which is another low point.

Who were Chelsea’s best and worst players? What do they need to work on next season?

If I had to look at their best players, obviously Mason Mount would be number one. He has had a brilliant season. He’s been the most consistent player for them, and was doing very well even under Lampard.

Mateo Kovacic — ever since Tuchel has arrived — has looked like the Kovacic of old. He’s making darting runs into the opposition half, and has been amazing for Chelsea since January.

Eduoard Mendy has been fantastic, and is proving that he’s the right man for the job. Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva and Antonio Rudiger have all been solid at the back.

For worst players, as much as it hurts me to say this, Kai Havertz has had a very disappointing season, and so has Ziyech. Both players have shown flashes of their quality, especially towards the end of the season, but it wasn’t enough. Werner has had an okayish season overall, but has been poor in front of goal.

I still believe they’ll be a lot better next season.

Marcos Alonso has been eh, to be honest. He didn’t play under Lampard, he started a few games for Tuchel and then slowly regressed again. Ben Chilwell has taken the wing-back spot from him, and looks like he’s going to keep it.

I’d expect them to bring more out of their three new signings — Werner, Havertz and Ziyech. All three are very talented players and fitting them all in a system and improving their form should be a top priority.

As I mentioned before, they could probably use a tall, physical, consistent striker that can also help Havertz and Werner. They might have to sell off deadweight and buy a few backups for some positions, but other than that, this squad is pretty solid.

My expectations from them for the next season would be the same as they were this season: Top three finish, but imposing more of a title challenge than this season. Far more.

They still have the Champions League final left to play. Let’s see what happens there. It’s going to be so interesting.