This season has been an odd one for Chelsea. With Andre Villas-Boas’s appointment in the summer the club have strived to shed the shadow that has lurked even after four seasons- the shadow of the ‘Special One’. Chelsea have often been called a slow and ageing side. There is some merit in those statements with the Chelsea side largely retaining the same spine of Cech-Terry-Lampard-Drogba. However the time for a change has come.

Chelsea’s season so far

Chelsea’s business activities seemed to be more driven with the urgent need to buy young talent. Lately they had been buying players very young and were not able to develop the talents to levels one would expect- Franco Di Santo, Scott Sinclair are amongst the list of players who found development away from the Bridge more forthcoming.

Also AVB has pinned a lot of his hopes on Torres rediscovering the form that made him the terrorising force of old. His treatment of Drogba and Anelka is just an example of how much faith he is putting on Torres. So is the new system working? Will it be a different Chelsea or the same old one?

Well so far Chelsea have struggled to get results but have shown remarkable tenacity to grind out results. Sure they haven’t turned on the style like Manchester United but winning without playing at your best is a quality that Champion Teams have. And this team do have that quality. They are a tenacious bunch who fight till the end with a manager who kicks every ball in his mind and is just as jittery off the pitch when his team is not doing all that well. This does bode well for the team.

Speaking from the point of the football, Chelsea have started playing a much more quicker game with slick passing and quick movement. Lampard with his age has been the first casualty to make way for more athletic and faster players. AVB has also been quick to dismiss notions that Lampard will not be an important player for them. He realizes that a young team needs old heads like Lampard to guide them through the rough patches like the League Cup game against Fulham where Chelsea were down to 10 men and out to substitutions. Lampard guided his younger team mates through and although the victory might not have been spectacular but it gives the youngsters one more chance to impress in the next round.

All in all, this team is showing promising signs and could become a force in the future. It now has the flair and individual creativity needed to unlock a stubborn defence and the drive to push for a victory throughout the game. The Chelsea season would be inevitably be judged by the trophies won but if Chelsea are to start a revolution of their own, they need to show some patience. They have the ingredients of an amazing team with the right mix of players and an outstanding manager. All that they need is just a little bit of patience. But as history has shown, patience is a not a quality that Abramovich has stockpiled.

Tags: Andre Villas Boas, AVB, Chelsea, EPL, Football, Premier League