Chelsea FC: Should an Undefeated Season Matter to Jose Mourinho's Blues?

People get bored, and people love perfection.

In a culture where everything must either be an instant classic or immediate rubbish, there seems no room for patience, nuance or indeed sanity.

Boredom and the insatiable quest to be first leads many to daft topics such as: "Can Chelsea Go Undefeated This Season?" in the month of October, after just nine games. While laughable, the honest answer to the question is "yes," but only because the word "can" makes just about anything possible.

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"Can you win the lottery?"

"Can you date Rihanna?"

"Can FIFA change the 2022 World Cup location from Qatar?"

Technically the answers would be "yes," but will they happen? The odds are unfortunately stacked against.

For the media, supporters and others outside of the Chelsea dressing room, the unbeaten question can be explained by our microwave society: We squeeze any potentially mythical narrative until it happens or flounders, then adjust grips accordingly. The Blues matching Arsenal's 2003/04 "Invincibles" side is merely l'histoire de l'heure or "the story of the hour."

A more intriguing, historically profound question—which has gone rather unnoticed—might be: "Can Burnley win a game?" Sean Dyche's side, not eliciting the same fervour in onlookers as Jose Mourinho's squad, are simply flying undercover.

Providing a substantial shield for the winless Clarets, Chelsea look like the strongest outfit in the Premier League, and them not winning the title would certainly be a shock given current form, but form—in the words of the tired cliche—is temporary.

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To assume over their next 29 EPL games the Blues will not play at least one poor match is foolhardy. Balancing domestic and European duties along with injury concerns, the route to an unscathed season is unlikely at best. That said, should Mourinho and his team have an unbeaten season in mind?

In one word: No.

Chelsea will likely view each game as possessing its own issues to navigate, problems to solve and idiosyncratic markers. Therefore, projecting what happens in May—or even three weeks—has minute relevance to the next game scheduled.

More pessimistic Blues supporters will be wary of the seemingly annual November hangover. Two seasons ago, under Roberto Di Matteo, the west Londoners began the 2012/13 season unbeaten—taking 22 points from their opening eight Premier League matches; from 28 October through 1 December: four points from the next seven fixtures.

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Optimistic fans will disregard the past as irrelevant, rave about new signings and see opportunities to extend the gap on the other so-called "contenders."

The key for Chelsea this year is perspective. They are not playing against the 2003/04 Arsenal side, or the 2004/05 Mourinho team, they are competing in the 2014/15 Premier League and should move around the chessboard as such: Plugging away and taking each game as opportunities to improve looks the only way to sustain form.

Gazing too far forward or too far backward could lead one into a ditch.

"

Just saying, don't get caught up w/ the "#CFC could go unbeaten" thing. Considering it's been five seasons since 2009/10, who cares?

— chelseaTALK (@_chelseaTALK) October 16, 2014"

One wonders what will become of this Chelsea team. Should they win the league and lose a game, will they fade from memory, or will they be spoken of in the pantheon of great English outfits? In an age where everyone's opinion has an audience, it shan't take long to figure out.

Lastly, some food for undefeated thought: The number of points for safety in the Premier League is understood to be 40; any point total under 40 is thought to put one in the relegation scrap—and possibly in the Championship.

If going undefeated is really impressive, would a team that gets relegated with 38 points, but draws every match be considered a success or a failure? If most would say a failure, then what does an undefeated season matter without the trophy to show?

And if the trophy is what validates an unblemished record, then surely just winning the silverware is enough.

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