Chelsea: Premier League or Champions League?

Mourinho and Chelsea have been very open about his transfer activity this summer, declaring he needs to sign only one defender, understandably due to the departure Filipe Luis.

Stones was the main target for the Blues this summer which was apparent by  the way they approached his transfer, but unfortunately the rejection of three bids by the Toffees has made the dark clouds still persist over this saga, though with another bid in the region of 35m, Everton’s Board might give in to the temptation. But the shaky start to their campaign has brought some changes into the plan. So we can pretty much expect Chelsea to be doing some more business, at least there’d be one more signing (Stones) if not two (Pogba).

But the question is what is Mou really aiming for? BPL or Champions League?

What Mourinho had at the start of this season was pretty much the same squad from the previous one, but with the poor start by the League winners the need for new signing is monumental. An addition was made to squad in the form of Pedro. Also, he has shown some faith in the youth players, giving chances to the likes of Loftus-cheek, Nathan Ake and Bertrand Traore to prove themselves.

The thing that could be a worrying signs for the Champions is the way United, City and Liverpool have strengthened their squad by making the most of this transfer window. The players they have signed seem to have made their squad more competitive than last season which could mean trouble for the West Londoners in defending their title. They haven’t had the best of starts as compared to their title contenders but these are still early days. But what we saw in these three matches is that Chelsea looked below par, uninspiring, lacked creativity and had lots of defensive error and the fact they got two players sent off in first 3 matches doesn’t help. Their defense looked shattered, there are many individual errors all over the pitch, things which are to be worked and improved on in the training sessions, otherwise the quality Mou has at his disposal can dominate BPL again. And a manager of Mou’s stature will find a way back and put up a good fight in defending their ‘Champions’ title.

Chance of defending the Barclays Premier leagues can brighten up in a long run but you don’t get many chances in Champions league. It’s the league of best and the best don’t give away opportunities. To win the domestic league and Champions league you need to have quality and the luxury of depth in your squad.  Last time, Blues had a disappointing run in the Champions League and this was mainly due to lack of depth and quality. The so called ‘Special one’ played – as he likes to- the same team in almost all the matches of BPL and Champions League thus the fatigue and tiredness, which lead to their downfall was clearly visible against PSG in Cl where they couldn’t win against 10 men at Stamford Bridge. Though this time around Mou has some depth in his squad but they still lack the quality which a team requires to compete at the highest level. The back four as a whole doesn’t look solid and against top team this weakness would be exploited just like City did.

You might win the BPL with such a squad but to win the Champions League you need to have 1-2 more impactful players than what Chelsea has. If the likes of Victor Moses and Cuadrado can blossom given the chance along with Pedro and Hazard, Chelsea might have a slight dig at Champions League, but seeing the current squad and their ability it’s highly unlikely that Mourinho is targeting Champions League and BPL both. And even if he did, the start to this season would have surely shaken him and made defending BPL title is first priority, unless they manage to strengthen their defense by landing Stones. This last week of transfer will be very important for Chelsea and players they sign will show their intent for Champions League. Until then we can conclude that defending the Champions title is the main objective this season for the Blues and Mr. Mourinho.