Chelsea End of Season Review: Some Things to Be Proud of for the Blues

Chelsea Football Club – Writer Awards for 21/22:
Player of the Season: Thiago Silva

A difficult decision, given there were a few other strong contenders but due to his pivotal value to this Chelsea team, 36-year-old Thiago Silva earns my vote for Player of the Season. At this ripe age, Silva played 32 matches in the league.

He maintained an impressive level of fitness and shepherded an ever-changing defense with aplomb as the rock at its center. His pace came to Chelsea’s rescue time and time again while the importance of his distribution can not be overstated. O Monstro earns my vote for Chelsea player of the season!

Flop of the Season: Romelu Lukaku

A harsh award to give and one I wouldn’t want to have to assign but given the expectation and the fee, Lukaku’s measly 16 league starts and 8 goals are a disappointment for a player that was signed to fire Chelsea back to the title.

His slow adjustment on the pitch notwithstanding, the poor timing of his rogue interview mid-season where he gave a scathing indictment of the coach and his time at the club while expressing a desire to return to Inter, made things very challenging for the coach, club, and player in a difficult time of the season.

The distraction undoubtedly harmed the club’s results in that period and so for that more so than his slow adjustment to life back at Chelsea, Lukaku is my pick here.

Most improved player: Reece James

Reece James is a juggernaut. Athletic, quick, and technically gifted, there is no role the right wing-back can’t play and there’s no ceiling to what his potential could reach.

He was impressive breaking through for Frank Lampard too but this season Reece James has established himself as one of the best right-backs in world football. He has a good head on his shoulders to go with boundless ability. For Reece James, the sky is the limit.

Unsung Hero – Mason Mount

Now Mason Mount might seem like a strange pick as an “unsung hero” given how much most Chelsea fans rate him but it will never stop baffling me just how many Chelsea and football fans underrate Mount.

Leading the team for xGI per 90 mins, Mount hit double digits for both goals and assists in the league this season with 11 goals and 10 assists. His work ethic is never in question and this season his output has stepped up a notch. Money Mase has been integral to Chelsea’s season.

The Signing of the Season – Retaining Trevoh Chalobah

Yeah, yeah… I know it’s a cop-out. Both Lukaku and Saul failed to make the desired impression leading me to pick the surprise retention of Trevoh Chalobah as the signing of the season. Primed for a loan move out of the club, Chalobah impressed Tuchel in pre-season and was retained with the squad to provide quality-in-depth.

But the young Englishman ended up making 20 appearances in the league this season – more than Andres Christensen – and did a very respectable job nearly every time he stepped in. As a reward for his hard work in training and astute retention by the coach, Chalobah goes down as my cheat pick for “signing of the season”.

Season Rating: A solid 7/10

As mentioned above, despite only meeting the league expectation this season, Chelsea came out with a Club World Cup and European Super Cup winners medal.

They lost on penalties in the finals of both the Carabao and FA Cup and accomplished a comfortable third-place league finish in a season where they were under threat of going into administration.

They lost key players to injury and had some untimely pieces of negative press. A respectable season and a 7/10 rating from me.