2010-11 EPL Preview: Chelsea

In 3-D!

The English Premier League (suck it, Barclays!) season is just around the corner, so we here at UF are giving you everything you need to know about all 20 teams with our award-winning analysis. And no, we haven’t really won any awards, but neither has Arsenal in five years and people still seem to care about them.

Official Name: Chelsea Football Club

Nickname: Blues, Pensioners

Home Colors: Blue

Trophy Case: Voila. Basically, not much before the 2000s, then lots of silverware since.

2009-10 League Finish: 1st

Stadium: Stamford Bridge

History: Founded in 2003 by a rich Russian oil barron as a whimsical plaything. Founded in 1905.

Famous Players:
Peter Bonetti, Peter Osgood, Gianfranco Zola, Ray Wilkins, Clive Walker, Tony Dorigo

Gaffer: Carlo Ancelotti

First Team:
1 Petr Cech
2 Branislav Ivanovic
3 Ashley Cole
5 Michael Essien
8 Frank Lampard
9 Franco Di Santo
10 Yossi Benayoun
11 Didier Drogba
12 Mikel
15 Florent Malouda
17 Jose Bosingwa
18 Yuri Zhirkov
19 Paulo Ferreira
21 Salomon Kalou
22 Ross Turnbull
23 Daniel Sturridge
24 Nemanja Matic
26 John Terry
33 Alex
38 Patrick Van Aanholt
39 Nicolas Anelka
40 Henrique Hilario
41 Sam Hutchinson
43 Jeffrey Bruma
44 Gael Kakuta
45 Fabio Borini
50 Jacob Mellis
No# Jan Sebeck
No # Fabio Ferreira
No # Matej Delac
No # Ramires

Transfers In:
Yossi Benayoun, CAM – from Liverpool, £5.5m
Ramires, CM – from Benfica, £17.5m
Matej Delac, GK – from Inter Zapresic (CRO), £2.7m
Tomas Kalas, DF – from Sigma Olomouc (CZE), £5.2m (loaned back to Sigma on signing day)

Transfers Out:
Joe Cole, CAM – to Liverpool, free
Michael Ballack, CM – to Bayer Leverkusen, free
Juliano Belletti, RB/RM – to Fluminense, free
Miroslav Stoch, RM/RW – to Fenerbahce, £4.95m
Deco, CM – to Fluminense, undisclosed
Scott Sinclair, RW/ST – to Swansea City, £500k
Ricardo Carvalho, CB – to Real Madrid, £6.75m

Key Players:
Yossi Benayoun, LM
Bargain! What a superb signing by Chelsea, super Jew will be an animal this season and thrive for Chelsea—Mark it! Great competition for Malouda, Benayoun is highly under rated.

Frank Lampard, CM
The key man in the middle. When Lampard plays well, Chelsea win! Simple as—a good season for Lampard means a good season for Chelsea.

Michael Essien, CDM
He was missed last season (but not a great deal—see last season’s league title) and is a big influence on this side—Essien in action allows Lampard to roam and also acts as extra protection to the defense. Top player.

Drama:
No drama this off-season, it’s been a quiet summer for the Premier League Champions as Roman Abramovich saved his cash; Well, all but 25 million of it—but a drop in the bucket compared to Manchester City!

Question Marks:
Age and the World Cup: Several key players are getting on in years (5 of the starting 11 over 30)  and more than 10 key men spent the summer at the World Cup—as a result, Chelsea may suffer a hangover this term. That said, Ivanovic, Essien, Zhirkov and Alex are all reaching their prime, and the addition of Ramires could pose a problem for Premier League opponents as he is an unknown factor.

Young Stars:
There are several young players in Chelsea’s squad: Patrick van Aanholt, Gael Kakuta, and Fabio Borini to name but 3. The problem is that none of these players are likely to see any time for Chelsea this season, as the positions the operate in are occupied by at least TWO decent players: van Aanholt has Cole and Zhirkov ahead of him; Borini has Drogba, Anelka and Sturridge ahead of him and Kakuta has Malouda and Benayoun in his left-wing role.

Prediction:
I can’t see Chelsea winning the title again this season, even though they spanked so many teams last year. Manchester United will be stronger along with Arsenal. Manchester City have strengthened so much, that they will likely be real competition for the title.

Also the number of players featuring at the World Cup could be a real factor, and not replacing Carvalho could too be a mistake. Terry or Alex get crocked and Ivanovic is the only option outside of young Michael Mancienne, who spent last season on-loan at Wolves. Third.