Team Overview: Chelski (as I call them due to their Russian billionaire owner) is one of the most despised teams in the EPL. They have a long, rich history, and one of the best records in recent EPL history (2005 and 2006 Champs). Chelsea also have won 5 FA Cups, including this year’s Cup and 3 others in the last bakers’ dozen years.
Top Performers: Anelka must be recognized for leading the league with 19 goals in EPL games. Lampard also looked like his normal self, notching 12 goals and 10 assists in 2009. But, as usual, Petr Cech deserves the most credit for the Blues’ success. He only ceded 0.69 GAA and he looked good doing it (especially the head gear).
Highest Highs: Chelsea was actually the best team on the road this year, winning a whopping 14 matches and losing only three. In fact, they were the only team to get more points on the road than at home. Their highest high though was their FA Cup title. Their win over Everton was classic, and it was due to their stingy defense this year.
Lowest Lows: The Blues were blue after being knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona. They battled Barca to two draws in the Semis, but the eventual champs advanced due to winning the tie-breaker – goals on the road. It’s a terrible way to suffer a lowest low, but that stupid rule led to Chelsea’s lowest low in 2009.
Future Outlook: Chelski has already made former AC Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti their new coach, so I expect them to keep shaking things up (we are talking about Abramovich – the EPL’s Al Davis – after all). Ancelotti may bring Pato to the Blues, as well as many other star players. But, they sure couldn’t land Kaka, which must hurt.
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