When the Chelsea takeover was completed, fans were brimming with delightful optimism following promises from the new owners to ensure the club remained in the upper echelons of the football pyramid.
However, what followed was a nightmare campaign riddled with wasteful splurging and thoughtless managerial changes that culminated in the club’s worst-ever season in the Premier League era.
Chelsea finished the campaign languishing in the bottom half of the table, light years away from the European places and lucky not to be sucked into a relegation battle.
Here’s Chelsea’s 2022/23 season review.
Player of the Year: Enzo Fernandez
Chelsea scrapped the end-of-the-year awards, having endured an appalling season, and rightly so, as they have underperformed across every department.
It is slim pickings given just how abject they were, but a player that stood out amidst the chaos was Enzo Fernandez, who added zest and dynamism to the Blues midfield.
Since his arrival in January, Chelsea relied on the Argentine playmaker for his creative ability, and he duly delivered, notching two assists with only Raheem Sterling creating more (3).
Performance of the season
The fact that Chelsea’s best performance came in the early parts of the season shows just how abysmal they were for the remainder of the campaign.
They were impressive in the fiery 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur, but even then, they were lucky to come away with a point as Spurs created more chances but were guilty of wastefulness.
Either way, the result against their London rivals did little to spur them on to greater things as they went on to endure a chaotic campaign.
Disappointment of the season
There were several disappointments that it is hard to narrow down to just one, but Frank Lampard’s return was a culmination of so much of what was wrong with Chelsea.
Sacking Thomas Tuchel marked the start of a catastrophic sequence of events that resulted in a shocking campaign, and their managerial choices afterward proved as much.
The timing of Tuchel’s departure was off, and capable replacements were scarce, so they bought Graham Potter out of his Brighton & Hove Albion contract, handing him a five-year deal.
That decision soon proved moronic as Potter only lasted three months before he was booted out, with Lampard brought in as caretaker manager.
Lampard’s appointment was another half-baked decision that underlined the naivety of the new owners, who were hoping a familiar face in the dugout would pull the club and fans together.
However, the Englishman plunged the Blues into more chaos, and without Tuchel’s ten points earlier in the season, Chelsea would have been firmly embroiled in a relegation battle.
What do the stats say?
Tuchel’s sacking kicked off a disastrous domino effect as Chelsea’s managerial merry-go-round plunged the club into more upheaval.
Since parting ways with the German, the Blues have tumbled down the Premier League table, finishing 12th after accumulating a paltry 44 points – their worst tally in the Premier League era.
After swatting aside Leicester City in early March, Chelsea picked up a meagre seven points from a possible 36 (W1, D4, L6) toward the end of the season.
Finding the back of the net proved problematic, as evidenced by their disappointing 38-goal haul – a club record low, although unsurprising considering they created just 57 big chances (1.9 per match).
Despite their struggles in the final third, Chelsea’s defensive metrics were surprisingly not as bad as the season suggests, with the Blues conceding 47 goals on an average of 1.26 per match.
Verdict
After finishing third last season with a worrisome gulf separating them from the top two, Chelsea were expected to mount a more serious title challenge.
However, nine months later, the Chelsea faithful will be grateful to see the end of a dreadful season that left a lot to be desired about what the future holds.
The significance of such a historically bad season may only be known in the years to come, but they need to hit the reset button this summer.
Mauricio Pochettino has agreed to take over as the new head coach, but even his Premier League resume has sparked debate about whether he is the right man to lead the club forward.
There are no positives to take from the horrific campaign, but the departure of several players who failed to produce should mark a new beginning for Chelsea.
