At the end of the 2020/21 season, Chelsea football club was brimming with confidence: they have just won the Champions League, it’s second in the history, and their first after 2012, they finished fourth in the league, and Thomas Tuchel managed to nullify all Frank Lampard’s wrong doing after just four months in charge. The aim was to win the Premier League next season and possibly another Champions League. As we near the end of the season, nothing is accurate. The Premier League is as far as the moon and the Champions League ended bitterly. The club also somehow managed to wipe out more than half of their defenders and come June 10th, Chelsea will be left only with ‘old men’ and ‘youngsters’ at the back.No time to waste – a massive deal for Real MadridOne of the most impressive things about Thomas Tuchel back at the beginning of 2021 was his ability to organize the defense. Since he took over from January 26th, Chelsea allowed only 12 goals in 19 Premier League matches (out of which 5 were conceived in one game, and other 7 in 18 matches). The German tactician likes to play with three center backs and two wingbacks, so team’s first choice defenders were: Antonio Rudiger, Marcos Alonso, Andreas Christensen, Thiago Silva, Kurt Zouma, Ben Chilwell, Reece James, Cesar Azpilicueta and Emerson. Other defenders were Malang Sarr, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Guehi, Davide Zappacosta, Matt Miazga, Fikayo Tomori and Baba Rahman, and almost all of them were loaned either at the start of the season, or in January transfer window, just before Tuchel arrived. In the space of one year.No defence. pic.twitter.com/LmwWmK3AGw— Chelsea Youth (@chelseayouth) April 25, 2022 Ahead of the 2021/22 season, with Tuchel calling the shots, the defensive department was cut almost in half: Emerson left to Lyon on loan, Matt Miazga was sent on his 5th loan since coming to the club (which is a clear indicator about his future), Baba Rahman, Davide Zappacosta, Kurt Zouma, Fikayo Tomori and Marc Guehi were among the sold ones, all for one purpose: to raise money to buy Romelu Lukaku.Drogba: Leave my Chelsea alone!Come the end of April and Lukaku is nowhere to be seen on the pitch, and is looking for a way out of Stamford Bridge, while on the other side of Chelsea’s line up, goals are conceived like the Blues are playing in Championship. Two goals from Luton, 4 from Brentford, 5 from Real (in two matches), 4 from Arsenal…And the number of defenders leaving London after May will raise to 9, as both Rudiger and Christensen announced they will depart. Coach Tuchel and director Marina Granovskaia surely didn’t expect at the start of the season that Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen will not renew their contracts, along with captain Cesar Azpilicueta (who has an option for another year, but still hasn’t confirmed), but the worst case scenario happened.Tuchel blames the pitch and his players for a loss to ArsenalMeanwhile, Marc Guehi is a regular at Crystal Palace and just received his first England cap, while Fikayo Tomori is a first team player for AC Milan and rarely misses a game. Ahead of new season, Chelsea will have two top wing back in first 11 (James, Chilwell) and two solid backups (Alonso (31), Emerson (27)), while the three center backs will be Cesar Azpilicueta (32), Thiago Silva (37) and Trevoh Chalobah (22). That is off course if Azpilicueta confirms he will stay. Do you think this will be enough for the title chase?PREMIER LEAGUE – ROUND 34SaturdayArsenal – Man.Utd. 3-1 (2-1)/Tavares 3, Saka 32 pen, Xhaka 71 – Ronaldo 34/Leicester – Aston Villa 0-0Man.City – Watford 5-1 (3-1)/Jesus 4, 23, 49 pen, 53, Rodri 34 – Kamara 28/Norwich – Newcastle 0-3 (0-2)/Joelinton 35, 41, Guimaraes 49/Brentford – Tottenham 0-0SundayBrighton – Southampton 2-2 (2-1)/Welbeck 2, Salisu 44 og – Ward-Prowse 45+4, 54/Burnley – Wolverhampton 1-0 (0-0)/Vydra 62/Chelsea – West Ham 1-0 (0-0)/Pulisic 90/Liverpool – Everton 2-0 (0-0)/Robertson 62, Origi 85/Monday22:00: (2.10) Crystal Palace (3.50) Leeds (3.80)***odds are subject to change***
