When the Premier League paused for the start of the World Cup, there were genuine concerns about Chelsea’s form. These misgivings were, of course, entirely justified with the Blues picking up just two points out of a possible 15 before the global spectacle in the Middle East got underway.
A much-needed World Cup break
Admittedly, the start of the World Cup seems like a long time ago now and at this stage, attention will slowly begin turning back to the Premier League’s resumption.
With that said, Chelsea fans will have a vested interest in the goings on in Qatar given that Thiago Silva’s Brazil are priced at just 2/1 to win the tournament in the most recent Fifa World Cup odds. Chelsea will undoubtedly benefit from Brazil going all the way in the Middle East when you consider the lift it will give to the Stamford Bridge change room to have a World Cup winner in it.
Thiago Silva sets a new World Cup record last night. 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/h2kCNjRlBA
— Frank Khalid (@FrankKhalidUK) December 6, 2022
Restoring confidence will do wonders
In many respects, this may address a current issue at the club given that a lack of confidence is one of the main problems around Stamford Bridge owing to, as touched on briefly, an uncharacteristically bad run leading into the World Cup.
Granted, there have also been the odd murmurs about Graham Potter’s overall tactics but given that the 47-year-old was only appointed manager two months before the World Cup, it would be impatient and perhaps even unwise to expect a change in the dugout so soon.
Rather, the break for the World Cup has actually given the club a chance to take a breath and benefit from some much-needed perspective.
Indeed, the gap between Chelsea and fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur is only eight points and, crucially, the Blues still have a game in hand on their London rivals.
Should Potter’s men capitalize on the extra fixture then it would be a mere five points off the Champions League qualification places with more than half of the season to go. When looked at it this way, the reality is that the club can still make the 2022/2023 season a successful one.
Mistakes have been made
Naturally, this isn’t to say that the last five fixtures in the Premier League have been acceptable or that some things don’t need urgent addressing, they certainly do.
Encouragingly, however, Potter has been the first to accept that a large portion of the blame lies at his feet and even went as far as to say that the 4-1 humiliation against his former club Brighton made him look a ‘bit of a fool.’
In particular, Potter was referring to his decision to play Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic as wing-backs at the Amex Stadium that ended up backfiring.
As frustrating as this regrettable afternoon on the South Coast was, Potter’s comments in the wake of the defeat should provide a degree of optimism in the sense that he isn’t afraid to take responsibility.
In other words, there will be a significant amount of work going on behind the scenes to ensure that results improve so that he doesn’t have to say the same things every week.
Pep Guardiola advises Chelsea to give Graham Potter more time 👀 pic.twitter.com/Hpm3ocSbVP
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) November 9, 2022
In addition to this, with the World Cup break providing the perfect opportunity for the club to reset by making the most of this impromptu mini pre-season, there is genuine reason to believe that Chelsea will be able to find their range in the second half of the campaign.
