It's Too Early to Draw Conclusions About Chelsea - The Blues Are Still Settling

So, Chelsea beat Brighton 3-1 on Monday. That's good.

In that victory, Chelsea didn't exactly look confident, gave up more possession and shots on target, and were perhaps a little fortunate against a side who weren't far off relegation last season. That's bad.

There were plenty of positives and a whole lot of negatives in the performance, which sums up what we came to expect from Chelsea last season. Was there much difference between this display and the showings from last season? No.

However, it's impossible to assume that things will be exactly the same based off this one performance as there's still so much uncertainty about this Chelsea side.

There's no denying that Chelsea still looked a little shaky at the back, but why wouldn't they? There were absolutely no changes in the personnel. Thiago Silva was unavailable, Ben Chilwell was out injured and new goalkeeper Édouard Mendy hasn't even signed yet.

Instead, we got to watch Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen showcase that weird blend of confidence and pure fear. We got to watch Marcos Alonso get obliterated by Tariq Lamptey all night long. We got to watch Kepa Arrizbalaga dive over a long shot which he probably should have saved.

Ah, the joys.

To take to Twitter and say '£200m and they still can't defend loooooool' is a clear overreaction as that side didn't even have any of the new recruits in. This was the same Chelsea that fans are well aware are terrifying at the back.

Even going forward, the Blues were a little uninspiring. It hurts to do it, but it has to be acknowledged that Kai Havertz's debut could have gone a little better, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek endured one of his poorest performances in a long time.

Chelsea looked slow and confused at times - almost as if they were a group of new players looking to get to grips with each other after very little time on the training pitch. Oh, wait. They were.

There are a lot of new cogs in a whole new system at Stamford Bridge, and it's going to take some time for everything to come together. It's up to Frank Lampard to try and make that adjustment as quick and painless as possible, but the reality is that there will still be a few teething problems while players get to up to speed.

With full fitness and greater team chemistry, who knows what this Chelsea side could become?

Lampard has always made it clear that he has a long-term project for Chelsea. He wants improvement this season, but he's not looking for domination. It's a steady process which requires patience.

Now he's got the players he wants, it's about helping them come together as one. Until they reach that point, it's impossible to know what this Chelsea side are capable of at this point.

Against Brighton, there were positive signs of things to come. Timo Werner and Jorginho looked to have a good understanding of each other, while N'Golo Kanté looked to be enjoying a new lease of life back in a two at the base of the midfield. The fact they they even won this game - the sort of match in which points would be dropped last year - is encouraging.

There's enough reason to believe that this Chelsea side will be something special once they figure it all it. The wait for that might not be pretty, but it'll be worth it in the end.


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Source : 90min