Chelsea’s season has started under a cloud of scrutiny as well as expectation. While Enzo Maresca tries to build momentum on the pitch, off it the club is dealing with the fallout of a Football Association investigation that stretches deep into the Roman Abramovich years.
00:00Chelsea's season has started under a cloud of scrutiny as well as expectation. While
00:08Anza Mureska tries to build momentum on the pitch, off it the club is dealing with the
00:12fallout of an FA investigation that stretches deep into the Roman Abramovich years.
00:20The FA has charged the Blues with 74 alleged rule breaches relating to payments of agents,
00:26inter-militaries and third-party investments in players, with most of the focus on transfers
00:31made between 2010 and 2016. Deals for big-name rivals such as Eden Hazard, Willian and Samuel
00:38Eto'o form part of the investigation that there's no suggestion of wrongdoing on the
00:43part of those players themselves. Chelsea's current owners say they uncovered these
00:50irregularities during the takeover process in 2022 and immediately reported them to the
00:55authorities, stressing they have opened their books in unprecedented detail.
01:02With the club given until 19th September to respond, the range of possibilities and sanctions
01:07is wide from fines and transfer restrictions to the unlikely prospects of a points deduction.
01:13Chelsea are confident that their cooperation will count in their favour and have already
01:18budgeted for a financial hit should it arrive.
01:22They remain unbeaten after four matches, although the draw with Brentford at the weekend was
01:27a reminder of how quickly momentum can be lost.
01:31Of course he is, he's a supremely talented player. You've seen the changes they made at half-time to try and change the momentum of the game.
01:40I felt he would always come into the game at some stage after his injury and naturally that changes the dynamic because he's such a talented player.
01:49A little bit disappointed with his goal, I just felt we left that space a little bit vacated when we could have closed it a bit more and stayed connected more as a team.
01:59But you're not going to get through the full game without conceding certain opportunities, but I thought we nullified a lot of what they do very well tonight.
02:06Denied space in crucial areas, Cuevin made a couple of really good saves, which again doesn't surprise me because he's a top goalkeeper and you're going to need to do that against teams of this calibre.
02:16That match highlighted both promise and concern. On one hand, the depth of the squad allows Maresca to hand minutes to youngsters like Jarrell Hato and Fakundu Buñate, while Palma's return immediately lifted Chelsea's creativity.
02:34On the other, the early lack of rhythm and vulnerability in key areas showed how fine the margins are.
02:40No, we planned 45 minutes for West because it was a long timeout. We planned not all the game for Jarrell because we said already many times when you arrive from another country, you need time to adapt.
02:56Facundo joined us two weeks ago. Physicality also is not 100%, but we needed to manage different situations like Estevao that was out, Joao Pedro also was not 100%, but he did the effort to play for part of the game.
03:15And as I said, probably in second half we were much better.
03:18Joao Pedro, before the game asked me that he was not 100%, better he doesn't play.
03:26And so if I was thinking about Bayern Munich, Joao was on the bench.
03:31But Joao played because the focus was about tonight.
03:34But for sure when you have so many games, you have to plan a different option.
03:40For instance, Rhys James played two games with the international team.
03:42So play tonight and thinking on Wednesday.
03:46So it's not, our focus was about tonight.
03:49And the reason why is because if this season we play Champions League, it's because we did well in the Premier League.
03:54And if we want to play again Champions League next season, we need to do well in the Premier League.
04:01The wider picture though is not bleak.
04:04Chelsea are scoring more freely than last season.
04:07Their midfield looks increasingly more comfortable under Mareska's system.
04:11And there is a sense that the pieces are beginning to fit.
04:16What lingers is the challenges of sustaining intensity over a long campaign.
04:22Especially with the Champions League now back on the agenda.
04:26The investigation into their past may dominate headlines.
04:29But for Mareska and his players, the aim is clear to keep performance levels high enough
04:34that when any punishment arrives, it won't derail what could yet be a season of genuine progress.
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