Chelsea still off balance but Mauricio Pochettino's army one to relish

Evidence from what was witnessed in Chelsea's pre-season games, the storm seems over for the two-time UEFA Champions League winners, who went through the lowest of lows in the last domestic campaign.

Chelsea, even by the standard could not help it finish 14th in the Premier League last season, closer to the relegation zone than they were to the top nine. 2022-23 was a season of hurt, which left the club's faithful at some point thinking of the worst.

Four Managers hired and fired in total with only eleven league games won out of 38. The games won were also not so convincing as many of them had come thanks to a goal difference.

New signings failed to live up to expectations. Regular players suffered of poor form and injuries. All of these mounted together to define Chelsea's season, and was a meaningless translation it gave in the end.

The Blues waited for a turnaround. They hoped, maybe at some point a light await at the end of the tunnel. Hope was high again after they reached the Champions League quarter final by beating Borussia Dotmund.

However, they were again brought down to earth by Real Madrid, who bettered them both home and away to compound a disastrous season.

Chelsea became not good enough against teams like Fulham, Leeds United, Brentford and others as these teams not only took points off Chelsea, but also outplayed them, some of them deserving more than they actually got from the fixtures.

Chelsea finally confirmed the appointment of former Tottenham Hotspur manager, Mauricio Pochettino as the new boss ahead of the start of the pre-season preparation.

Though there were concerns due to the Argentine's trophyless spell with Spurs, but with what has been seen in Chelsea's pre-season games, it is enough for a start for a club that was unrecognizable just few months back.

Pochettino not only restore character and identity but as well got the players willing to compete and fight for the shirt - an evidence is their Premier League summer series success in the USA.

In the three games played en route to winning the Premier League Summer Series in the United States, Chelsea picked up seven points out of a possible nine, beating Brighton and Fulham while earning a draw against Newcastle United.

Even in the Premier League last season, when they played a total of six games over two legs against these teams combined, they only struggled to ammase three points.

The improvement is telling, not only on the results but as well overall play. Despite still lacking experience in some department, they have still managed to make almost everything work perfectly.

The new signings have been sensational. Nicolas Jackson most especially. The Senegalese has everything demanded to thrive as a Chelsea Number Nine.

Reminds one so much of Didier Drogba. Not just because of his colour but with his hunger, workrate and finishing, he is so much perfect for the club and at only 21, he will not only improve himself but as well the club's attack.

Chelsea has not really has a major goalscorer since the departure of Diego Costa. Tammy Abraham was the only striker to produce good numbers in the league since then, scoring 15 times in the 2019-20 league campaign.

Kai Havertz, Timo Werner, Romelu Lukaku to mention but a few had led the lines for the club in recent times but none has been able to reach double figures in the league.

Mason Mount, a midfielder, was able to reach eleven League goals in the 2021-22 season but the now Manchester United player struggled last season and even got dropped from the starting XI on regular basis.

With Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku (if he manage to stay fit for good part of the season), one is not far from right to conclude that better days are here for Chelsea.

Nkunku was joint top scorer in the German Bundesliga last season, despite his injuries and was the league's best player of the year the season before despite neither playing for Bayern nor Dortmund.

He has also hit the ground running with Chelsea in pre-season. Unfortunately, he has been ruled out for a couple of months due to a medial collateral ligament injury to his knee. The club will hope he continues to shine when he recovers.

Jackson started to star for Villarreal in the second half of last season and was able to register twelve goal contributions in eleven games between April and May, which included ten goals.

He was unarguably Chelsea's best player of pre-season. The 21-year-old registered five goal involvement (two goals, three assists) in five games in the summer.

Christopher Nkunku was the pre-season top scorer with three goals while the Ian Maatsen, who returned from his season long loan spell with Burnley also impressed on the flank.

Mykaylo Mudryk, who struggled in his first six months at the club has also enjoyed an impressive preparation ahead of the start of the new campaign under Mauricio Pochettino. The Ukrainian was also able to score his first Chelsea goal in a 4-3 win over Brighton in the Summer Series.

The former Shakhtar Donesk star has also switched to the number 10 shirt ahead of the new season, further indicating that he is mentally ready to take the new season by storm.

The midfield is where the club still need to strengthen though because Enzo Fernandez appears the only major option at the moment, with Conor Gallagher not really in the level demanded at the club.

Andrey Santos is still very young and raw while Cesare Casadei is expected to leave on loan, having not been handed a first team shirt number in the club's updates list recently released.

Efforts continue to convince Brigiton into selling Moises Caicedo, a move that will he massive, if the club manage to pull it off.

Lesley Ugochukwu has joined and has been given the shirt number 16, an indication that the French teenager could be staying despite speculations he will be leaving on loan.

Aside that the club will not be playing in Europe next season, Chelsea fans have the right to be optimistic as the season commences in days, because under Mauricio Pochettino, they have undergone the needed transition, and the new era can finally get started.

Welcome to the party, Blues.

Hassan Afolabi