Chelsea shouldnt let their recent dip in form put a dampener on whats been a promising season.
From late November, the Blues won eight games in a row in all competitions, including at home to Aston Villa and away at Tottenham. There were even whispers of the west Londoners being in the title race, though manager Enzo Maresca was keen to shut them down.
At first, he appeared to be playing it cool to take pressure off his team, but in reality a lot of what he said about his group not being ready yet has turned out to be fair.
A few cracks have formed and Chelseas flaws began to show during an inconsistent December and January.
Perhaps the blip offers some perspective after a surprisingly positive first half of the season, but however 2024-25 plays out, it should be seen as the year in which the rebuild under new ownership really began to take shape.
When Mauricio Pochettino left last May, it felt like yet another stall in the Chelsea project and appointing Maresca didnt, at the time, represent a meaningful upgrade.
The Italian had one full seasons worth of managerial experience, in the Championship, albeit one in which Leicester were promoted back to the Premier League. But hes proven his doubters wrong after making the step up to lead one of Englands most successful clubs.
In August, all of the talk focused on how the new boss would handle a bloated squad of underperforming players, Cole Palmer aside. Yet his direct, sometimes blunt, approach has been refreshing, and hes been able to coax improved displays out of several stars.
Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo, Nicolas Jackson and Marc Cucurella are all enjoying much better seasons than last term. Caicedo has become one of the most important players in the team and Jackson looks more confident in front of goal, although his form has dipped over the last couple of months and he hasnt seemed quite as dependable when it comes to killing a game off.
In Palmer, however, Chelsea are blessed with a talent that is rarely found. If Mohamed Salah hadnt been having the season of his life, wed once again be talking about Palmer being the best player in the league. Hes a phenomenon, already being compared to many Blues greats.
He continues to rack up goal involvements and has now become the first Chelsea player to hit 20 or more goals and assists in consecutive seasons since Eden Hazard. The trouble is that if Palmer doesnt score, theres not another player in the team anywhere close to his level.
The other issue they have is that their wobble highlighted weaknesses in game management and a lack of consistency over 90 minutes. They can be so thrilling and entertaining, but if mistakes happen theyve been made to suffer quite badly.
Maresca has been questioned for not always adapting in-game tactically, and theres an element of panic in their play that has to change if theyre to fulfil this seasons ambitions with the amount of top players at their disposal.
One of the benefits of having a squad as big as they do, though, is that the Chelsea coach has pretty much picked one squad for league games and an entirely different line-up for Europe.
Keeping a large squad content by giving them minutes on the pitch, while having the opportunity to see which of the fringe players can add something more to the first choice group, has been a productive way to manage the team, but keeping them fresh may prove the decisive factor if Chelsea are to achieve anything as we head towards the business end of the season.
Conference League glory should be the bare minimum if they can also qualify for the Champions League, 2024-25 should be seen as a success considering where they were last summer.
The recent stutter in results is a reminder that Chelsea are still building towards their target of becoming a winning force once again, but theres certainly plenty of optimism for the rest of the season and, maybe more importantly, way beyond that, too.
