• Chelsea have slowly but surely forced everyone to take notice of their impressive rise up the Premier League table.
• The West Londoners currently sit in second place, but manager Enzo Maresca has ended talk of league competition.
• YEN.com.gh examines why Chelsea are Premier League contenders this season as young Maresca side continue to turn heads

At the start of the season, it was a far-fetched idea that Chelsea would be in the title conversation at any time in the near future.

A new manager with no Premier League experience, 728,293 players, a transfer model that no one outside the sporting directors could understand, a racist chant that threatened to derail team unity; nothing seemed to work for Chelsea.

But with 14 games At the end of the season, the Blues sit in second place with 28 points, and once again they look like a cohesive team, as they once did under Roman Abramovich.

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Enzo Maresca: From crisis to row in the Premier League

Enzo Maresca has no experience coaching a top club, but he has been trusted to lead this young team desperate for identity. The Italian has so far demonstrated a calm but firm approach, equally praising and criticizing his troops while making bold decisions to ostracize the group’s more experienced players.

He may not yet have the means and tactical ingenuity of Pep Guardiola, the acumen of Mikel Arteta or Arne Slot’s team of seasoned competitors, but the former Leicester City man has already shown glimpses of how he wants his team to play. And hey, aren’t Chelsea entertaining: they’re averaging 2.6 goals per game this season.

A huge team turns out to be a blessing

Under the instructions of the 44-year-old, a group of more than 23 players whose average age is 23 years and 234 days. Much has been made of Chelsea’s bloated squad, but Maresca has managed to reduce it to two players per position.

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Chelsea arguably have the best squad depth in the division, with Maresca having the luxury of changing their entire XI while remaining competitive. They scored five goals past Southampton under an in-form Nicolas Jackson who watched from afar all evening.

With a tight schedule of one game every three days, Maresca can modify his team to keep it fresh while other coaches struggle with an increased workload for their players. Cole Palmer, for example, was booked specifically for Premier League matches.

Conference League Advantage

Chelsea’s participation in Europe’s weakest cup also has its advantages, as Maresca does not need to field its strongest starting XI in the league stage. And they still win 8-0.

Tried and tested against last season’s best teams

After 14 games, Chelsea have already faced Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Aston Villa and Newcastle, and they are in second place. The Spurs are the only team in last season’s top eight that they have yet to play. They meet on Sunday.

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Opponent Weaknesses

Looking at the opponent’s weaknesses, Liverpool may be seven points ahead, but this is all due to Mohamed Salah, who has participated in 75% of the Reds’ goals this season. How long will they be able to enjoy the Egyptian form?

Pep Guardiola has yet to figure out how to compete consistently without Rodri to anchor his engine room, and unless Manchester City find answers in their midfield, they may struggle to sustain a challenge.

Arsenal looked lost without Martin Odegaard pulling the strings a few weeks ago. Mikel Arteta’s side are back at full strength, but how they deal with the Norwegian when the games start to come together could determine whether they finally win a title in more than 20 years.

Chelsea’s inexperience could be a stumbling block

Only Enzo Fernandez, Marc Cucurella and the unavailable duo of Reece James and Ben Chilwell have won a major trophy in Chelsea’s current setup, and it will be interesting to see how the inexperienced team respond when the heat turns up.

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Their position on the table could have come sooner than expected; maybe they are just enjoying their soccer right now as they prepare for next season, but forget what Enzo Maresca says: Chelsea are title contenders.

Ronaldo described as “selfish” by his ex-teammate

YEN.com.gh in a separate story he reported that the former Real Madrid player Rafael van der Vaart criticized Cristiano Ronaldo as being “incredibly selfish” during their time together at the club.

Van der Vaart explained that Ronaldo seemed unhappy when he didn’t score, even in big wins, but was happy if he scored multiple goals, regardless of the team’s result.

Source: TUKO.co.ke