Chelsea have come in for plenty of criticism in the last 12 months. Whether it be for their transfer dealings or on-pitch performances, a lot of it has been warranted, but the Blues have become an easy target.
Mauricio Pochettino's side next head to Burnley and, despite a win over Fulham, Chelsea remain in the bottom half of the table. The Blues sit in 11th but also hold a record of having recorded a greater xG than their opponents in each of their matches so far. Statistics don't win matches but Pochettino understandably believes a lot of things are projecting in the right direction.
Nevertheless, it has been a difficult start, and given the club's summer spend and consequential expectation, criticism was always going to quickly arrive. The Blues have not had the most testing opening to the Premier League season, and following the international break, the difficulty of proceedings will ramp up. The coming weeks will no doubt begin to illustrate where the Blues are in their project.
Speaking earlier in the week, Jamie Carragher pulled no punches in making his assessment of Chelsea's side. He said: «Chelsea's best XI would still need at least four players — and I mean top players — to go and have a chance of catching Manchester City.
»The goalkeeper and centre-forward are not good enough. They need another midfielder and another defender too. To think Chelsea have spent £1billion and still feel like they are half a team away from competing for the Premier League title, it’s flabbergasting."
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