northsomeone saw Chelsea coming last time they won the title. The key moment came in the sixth game of the season, when they were trailing 3-0 at half-time against Arsenal. They had lost at home to Liverpool the week before and drawn at Swansea the week before. His coach, Antonio Conte, after trying to adapt to the team, decided that enough was enough: the team had to bow to him. At half-time he switched to his preferred back three and in the comforting monotony of a goalless second half of a game that was already lost, the revolution was born.
Chelsea won their next 13 league games and by the time someone figured out how to manage their 3-4-2-1, with N'Golo Kanté and Nemanja Matić as a seemingly impenetrable shield at the back of midfield, it was too late. . There was no European football to worry about (the previous season had seen the collapse of José Mourinho and a 10th-place finish), so Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso remained fresh enough to continue tearing up the field as full-backs. Elsewhere the stars aligned: Manchester City were still getting used to Pep Guardiola in his first season in English football, Arsenal were still in their late Wenger phase, Liverpool were still building under Jürgen Klopp, so Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham was Chelsea's closest rival. But with 93 points, whoever came second would probably have won the league.
Eight years later, could it be happening again? Once again, Chelsea began in chaos, with Raheem Sterling issuing a statement protesting his omission seconds after the team sheet was published for the opening game of the season, a 2-0 home defeat to City. Once again, they have a coach who has brought unexpected clarity. Once again, last season's disappointing performances have eased the burden on European football; although Chelsea has to play in the Conference League, Enzo Maresca has turned what could have been an arduous task into a benefit, creating what is effectively a shadow team that, in a largely pressure-free environment, has become familiar with its style of play and can step up when necessary .
Does that mean Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali knew what they were doing from the beginning? This would perhaps be going too far and it is not yet clear how the divisions in his leadership reported in September have been resolved. After all, if you invest enough money in a project, things tend to work out eventually.
But with each passing week, Maresca looks like a more inspired choice as a coach. potential remains Pitfalls of the PSR ahead, although it says a lot about the wastefulness of the project that there are 24 senior players brought in under the current owner at a cost of £550 million who have started less than three games for Chelsea this season (three of them, there are have to admit it, they have already done it). sold, at a combined loss of £20 million). Perhaps Maresca's greatest achievement so far has been examining the box and determining which pieces don't fit.
It seems to be working. Sunday's 4-3 victory over Tottenham It was Chelsea's fourth consecutive game in the league, and it came despite a couple of slips from Marc Cucurella giving Spurs a two-goal lead. With 35 goals, Chelsea are comfortably the league's top scorers. Although they have played one more game than Liverpool, they have closed to four points at the topClose enough that, even with a game less, Liverpool can feel his breath on their necks.
History says that teams that are this far ahead at this stage usually win the title, but the sample size is limited. Being the sole favorite for a long period is difficult and, magnificently, as Arne Slot has done so far, he has been lucky with injuries and the way the games have been going. No one can be sure how Liverpool will react to adversity. City is mired in the worst crisis since Guardiola arrived at the club. Sunday's draw against Fulham showed that Arsenal, having been unlucky with injuries and having played many of their toughest games, are still struggling for fluency.
After 15 games, this is a season with, at least at its top, a pleasantly old-fashioned feel. All but Liverpool look fallible and there is a sense of uncertainty about them too. At the same time, the league's vast middle zone is full of teams (such as Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, Brighton and Brentford) that can surprise anyone on their day. Liverpool may still get their way, but for now there is a satisfying sense of unpredictability, and that means that, despite everything, Maresca and his players you can try to deny itChelsea – unexpectedly – are firmly in the title race.
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on this day
It would have been much easier for the United Kingdom if Australia had qualified for the 1966 World Cup, held in England. But, ill-prepared, they lost 9-2 on aggregate to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, creating a major headache for the Foreign Ministry. Although the Korean War, in which Britain had committed almost 100,000 troops and its Far East Fleet, ended with an armistice in 1953, the United Kingdom never formally recognized the northern part of Korea as a sovereign nation, nor was it signed no formal peace treaty. been signed.
That created three main areas of concern: the anthem, the flag and the terminology to be used. “North Korea” was decided to be accurate without necessarily conferring statehood. An agreement was reached that the flags of the 16 participating teams could be flown at each match. But what to do with the anthem? On December 9, 1965, a clever diplomatic solution was found: the anthems would not be played before each match as usual, but only before the opening match and the final, the (correct) assumption being that it would mean that the anthem of North Korea would never reproduce. make themselves heard, although they gave a big surprise by eliminating Italy and reaching the quarterfinals.
This is an excerpt from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, Guardian US' weekly look at the game in Europe and beyond. Subscribe for free here. Do you have any questions for Jonathan? Email footballwithjw@theguardian.comand will answer the best in a future edition.
