The traditional mood ahead of a new Premier League season is one of optimism. With the slate wiped clean and the previous campaign consigned to history, a fresh start awaits all 20 clubs fighting it out in England's top flight.
But as they prepare to kick off their title defence against Burnley at Stamford Bridge, things feel a little different at Chelsea. The reigning champions should be riding the crest of a wave and looking forward to scaling the dual peaks of Champions League and Premier League glory. In reality, the overriding emotion is apprehension.
The three months since John Terry and Gary Cahill lifted the Premier League trophy aloft should have seen the club building on the firm foundations laid last season. Instead, it has been a period of uncertainty. The impasse between Antonio Conte and Diego Costa might not have been much of a surprise given their training ground spat in January though it could not have played out worse for the club after Costa torpedoed Chelsea's bargaining position by revealing he was no longer wanted in London.
Then there was the doubt surrounding Conte's own future with the Italian only signing fresh terms in the middle of July with the contract, rather tellingly, not including an extension to his current deal. The pursuit of a replacement, top line striker turned into an embarrassment for the club after Manchester United outflanked Chelsea to sign Romelu Lukaku from Everton. And with the departure of several first team squad members including Terry, Nathan Ake and Nemanja Matic yet to be offset by a sufficient amount of reinforcements, there is understandable caution ahead of the season opener.
The first team is still undeniably strong so in that respect there should not be too much cause for concern. Recent history, however, has illustrated that it is dangerous to assume too much. Two summers ago it was inconceivable that as defending champions, Chelsea would end the following season out of the European spots and in their lowest position for a generation. Equally, 12 months ago, none but the most positive of Chelsea supporters expected them to win the title after the arrivals of Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho in Manchester, never mind doing so with a record amount of wins and the second highest points total in Premier League history.
It is therefore hard to know what to expect from the coming campaign. With the exception of Matic and Costa, the rest of the first team has remained the same. Time will tell whether Tiemoue Bakayoko and Alvaro Morata will flourish in that duo's stead but an initial outlay of almost £100 million for the pair indicates the faith shown in them by the club.
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Wider squad strength is the greater concern with the depth required in key areas such as wing-back and central midfield yet to be addressed. There is still time remaining in the transfer window to fill those gaps but time is of the essence. Chelsea's ambitions during Roman Abramovich's ownership has always been to win competitions rather than just being happy to compete. That will not happen this season unless there is sufficient quality and quantity for Conte to call upon.
Last season's title win was largely built on a settled first eleven untroubled by European distractions or injuries. This season the Champions League will understandably occupy much focus while it will be miraculous if Chelsea are as fortunate regarding the health of their top players. Factor in the huge investment made by their rivals, especially Manchester United and Manchester City adding to their already impressive squads, and the task will be much tougher this time round.
Chelsea's fortunes for the entire season could possibly be determined in the next few weeks. The transfer window could yet yield some positive delights in a similar manner to last summer when David Luiz and Marcos Alonso were acquired late on and proved to be inspired additions to the squad. Bring in the right players in the right positions and Chelsea's squad could still be the match of any other in the Premier League.
Just as important is getting off to a good start. Chelsea face a tricky set of opening fixtures with the visit of an obdurate Burnley side followed by a trip to Tottenham before ambitious and big-spending Everton come to Stamford Bridge. An away fixture at Leicester completes the quartet of fixtures before the Champions League group stage gets underway, a period when resources and priorities start becoming stretched.
For Chelsea to extract the most from the next few weeks on the field, experienced campaigners Willian and Pedro will need to start the campaign at full throttle in the absence of the injured Eden Hazard and exiled Costa.
Procuring 10 points from the first four games and some canny signings could yet see Chelsea build on last season. For now, the glass is still half full.
Source: espn.co.uk