Revised Expectations for Chelsea After First Month of the Season
It's only been four weeks into the new campaign, but Chelsea have been served a reality check.
From expectant Premier League champions, suddenly Jose Mourinho has a team unsure of what it can achieve this season.
Will they retain their title? Will the campaign end with silverware at all? From being among the favourites to succeed, not even Mourinho's players have that look of confidence that proved them so dominant last year.
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Chelsea had played with such authority from the outset in 2014/15 that premature claims of their brilliance didn't take long to prove sound judgement.
Not anymore, of course. Now they're the opposite: lacking confidence and conviction; a shadow of the team that steamrolled its way to the title.
Two defeats, a draw and just one unconvincing win in your opening four games will do that to you.
Chelsea looked jaded in their defeat against Crystal Palace before the international break, leaving Mourinho with plenty to do if the Londoners are to turn their season around after a slow start.
So what can we realistically expect from the reigning Premier League champions in 2015/16? Bleacher Report re-assesses the Blues' hopes for the season.
Premier League
Already eight points behind league leaders Manchester City, it's looking an uphill task for Chelsea to retain the title.
Sure, with 34 games remaining, eight points doesn't seem like that much of a gap. There are 102 points still on the board, so mathematically, anything can happen.
Chelsea's predicament isn't about maths, though. It's about something far more tangible: the state of their squad.
There's too much missing right now to be predicting a strong title challenge. The start to the season has shown us that.
Mourinho needs an extra midfielder and defender of significant ability for the Blues to keep up with the teams around them, especially a City team that has started 2015/16 with real intent.
The business in the transfer window hasn't been enough to iron out the problems Chelsea faced in the second half of the campaign, which has meant they have spilled over into the here and now.
The hope is that Pedro's presence on the right side of midfield will help Eden Hazard rediscover the form that made him the double Player of the Year last term.
If that happens, Chelsea's attacking threat will be significant, with teams having to work much harder at the back than they have been in these opening four games.
Chelsea have struggled to stretch teams, and it's only since Pedro's signing that we've seen more adventure and creative threat going forward.
The Spaniard has already scored and picked up two assists in his first two appearances, so the early signs are encouraging at least.
Further back, though, conceding two goals or more in their opening four games, Chelsea need to address that leaking defence.
John Stones was never going to be the magic wand to cure that—Chelsea made multiple bids for the Everton defender during the summer transfer window, as noted by the Guardian—especially when Nemanja Matic and Branislav Ivanovic are desperately out of form.
Matic hasn't shielded the defence enough from midfield, while Ivanovic's rapid decline at right-back has meant it's been open season on the flanks.
Indeed, six of the nine goals Chelsea have conceded this term have come from the right—the opposition left—which is a major concern.
Teams are targeting that weakness and getting results.
Those are the sort of problems managers work through in pre-season, but with 2015/16 in full flow, Mourinho is having to focus on that now. It's a situation that is far from ideal.
Chelsea are playing catch-up, which means they're unsettled and aren't ready.
As champions, we expected them to be fighting all the way to retain that status, but right now a top-four finish would be a sign of success in 2016.
Chelsea need to rediscover their best form before it's too late. It'll only be after a string of victories that we can start to look at them as bona fide title contenders once more.
Champions League
Facing Porto, Dynamo Kiev and Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the group stages, the expectation is that Chelsea will cruise through their group.
Which they should.
It's beyond the group stage that is the concern, although the winter transfer window offers them a lifeline when it comes to Chelsea's Champions League credentials.
Right now, looking at Chelsea's early season form and the weaknesses that still exist in Mourinho's squad, it's difficult to regard them as genuinely good enough to reach next May's final in Milan.
Indeed, looking at the teams we expect to get as far as the quarter-final and semis, there's an argument to suggest the last-16 is as far as the journey will take them.
That's where Chelsea were dumped out of Europe by Paris Saint-Germain last season. They've failed to add the players who can overcome the deficiencies that saw them lose to the Ligue 1 champions, so it's feasible something similar will happen again.
Against their group opponents, Chelsea should have too much. But further into the competition, where tactics and personnel play such a big part, they look short right now.
If Chelsea can play the winter window cleverly enough, though, they might be able to unearth the solutions to their shortcomings in Europe.
John Stones will remain eligible for Champions League football given Everton aren't in the competition, so a renewed bid for the Englishman could bolster the defensive ranks.
Some shrewd scouting may unearth the sort of midfielder Chelsea need to target their weakness in the middle of the pitch, too. Failing that, if Ruben Loftus-Cheek is given enough game time in the groups, he could prove particularly useful to Mourinho's mission.
The Champions League is yet to kick off, so it would be folly to imply one team will win it over another. As it stands, though, Chelsea's problems do not instill confidence for how they will fare.
With a few tweaks in January, their chances may well improve significantly.
Capital One Cup
Chelsea are the reigning champions in this competition, and the third-round draw has been kind to them.
Mourinho will take his team to League 1 Walsall on September 23, where they will be expected to come away with a victory.
In the summer, we didn't expect Chelsea to target the Capital One Cup given their commitments elsewhere, with a focus on taking steps forward in Europe after conquering domestic competitions in 2014/15.
Despite their poor start in the Premier League, that shouldn't have changed as it's more vital than ever Chelsea pick up form in the league and aren't cut further adrift from Manchester City than they already are.
What will be interesting to see is how Chelsea's fringe players perform in the Capital One Cup, though.
With so many star names under-performing this past month, the competition may well be the ideal opportunity for the likes of Loftus-Cheek and Kenedy to earn a first-team place.
Who knows, John Obi Mikel and Ramires could even rediscover the kind of form that once convinced Chelsea to buy them.
The point is, the early stages of the Capital One Cup remain a shop window of sorts, so with places up for grabs, we could see a shift in mentality from the players at least, using it to benefit them personally.
If that carries Chelsea through to the latter stages, Mourinho isn't a man for turning down a trip to Wembley when the opportunity presents itself, meaning it will only grow in significance.
FA Cup
It's so far off that the FA Cup will be the last thing on Jose Mourinho's mind.
However, when January comes around, the manager will be haunted by last season's home defeat to League 1 Bradford City.
Losing 4-2, having led the game 2-0, was an embarrassing moment for Mourinho and his players. Going on to win the Premier League and Capital One Cup ensured the result was regarded as nothing more than a blip, but there's a sense of unfinished business.
It's a competition Mourinho has won just once, so given the history that surrounds the FA Cup, he will want to improve on that.
And who knows, if Chelsea's poor form continues, come January when Premier League teams enter the FA Cup, the competition may well be their best hope at silverware.
If that proves to be the case, expect Chelsea to be serious contenders.
Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes
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