Chelsea the Champions League title holders smashed 4 past Juventus last night. The gulf in class between the two sides was as wide as top and bottom teams in a league. Juventus huffed and puffed and tried to physically tackle Chelsea players, but they were just much more quick, strong and intelligent for the ageing and quite frankly weak Juventus.
Thomas Tuchel said at the start of his managerial career at Chelsea that he create a team that no one wants to play against. That promise is now turning out to be true given Chelsea’s performance in all competitions. Chelsea currently top the Champions League group as well as the Premier League table. They have done this with Lukakau and Werner injured for half of those games.
Academy players rise to the ocassion
While many still struggle to comprehend Chelsea Youth Academy’s superiority (looking at you Rio), the ones who have followed Chelsea are aware of the quality that it offers. Chelsea currently have the strongest squad in the world and much of that strength comes from their Academy players.
Chalobah, Mount, James, Hudson Odoi, Loftus-Cheek to name a few currently form the core of the team. Chalobah, Hudon Odoi and James scored last night against Juventus and Ruben Loftus Cheek (more like Proven Loftus Cheek) came up with a wonderful assist. These academy players have put pressure on the big buys like Ziyech, Havertz, Saul.
The manager is currently having a hard time picking the first XI for Chelsea given how full to the brim they are with players. Saul Niguez’s loan spell is going very badly given the resurgence of RLC and Barkeley.
Tuchel the best manager?
On current form, Tuchel certainly is among the best manager out there. With a 4-0 win against Juventus Tuchel achieved the best defensive record for a manager after 50 games.
PSG manager Pochhettino’s comments about Chelsea being a defensive team are now a reason for mockery. He said, ” We have signed two attacking full-backs, Hakimi and Nuno Mendes. We have The club (PSG) has the ambition of playing attacking football”. Meanwhile, Chelsea’s full-backs have scored around 50% of the goals this season. Reece James currently leads the scoring charts at Chelsea with Chillwel not far behind.
Chelsea flying full-backs have given everyone a headache at the moment. Reece James’s confidence has grown immensely and he is playing like a prime Cafu. The team that beats Chelsea in the Premier League and Champions League would have to play some of the best football ever but they would still not have the kind of academy players that Chelsea has at the moment.
