After spending 462.1 million euros during the summer transfer window, Chelsea is facing its worst start in the Premier League since 1978. Currently, the London-based team has only five points in six rounds, sitting in 14th place on the table, just four positions away from the relegation zone.
This sequence of unfavorable results is already putting pressure on Argentine coach Mauricio Pochettino, who was hired at the end of May to lead Chelsea in the 2023/24 season.
The latest setback was a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge last Sunday. Chelsea now has three consecutive winless games in the Premier League, and the team has yet to score goals during these matches. The only victory for the team so far was a 3-0 win against newly-promoted Luton Town, a less prominent club in the English elite. The overall performance includes one win (against Luton Town), two draws (against Liverpool and Bournemouth), and three losses (to West Ham, Nottingham Forest, and Aston Villa).
Pochettino commented on the team’s performance, stating, “The performance is good. I wouldn’t say it’s excellent because we are failing to be clinical in front of the goal. We need to keep working.” Additionally, the coach was booed by the Blues’ fans after the defeat to Aston Villa.
In 1978/79, Chelsea had a similar start in the Premier League with one win, one draw, and four losses, eventually being relegated as the last-placed team at the end of the season.
Before being sacked, German coach Thomas Tuchel, who led Chelsea to the Champions League title in 2020/21, had a slightly better performance in the first six rounds of the 2022/23 season with three wins (against Everton, Leicester, and West Ham), one draw (with Tottenham), and two losses (to Leeds and Southampton). However, Chelsea finished that season in 12th place on the table, their worst campaign in the Premier League era.
Since the consortium led by American businessman Todd Boehly bought Chelsea in May 2022, the English club has become the biggest spender in the world in each of the last three transfer windows. In total, the new management has invested 1.07 billion euros in the signing of 27 players during this period.
Pochettino also commented on the owners’ reaction at Chelsea, stating, “They (Chelsea’s owners) are disappointed. They arrived at the club so excited to build a project. Of course, they feel disappointment, but at the same time, they need to support the plan.”
This season, Chelsea is competing only in the Premier League, the FA Cup, and the EFL Cup, as they are not participating in European competitions, which only happened once in the 2016/17 season during Roman Abramovich’s ownership era.
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