Chelsea preview: Will blues still be in style this season?

Chelsea pride themselves on being global artists more than anything else.

And more than anything, the Premier League champions would like the tag of European champions, in keeping with their multinational self-image. Especially the title of the European Cup that has escaped them.

In the last four years, Chelsea have entered one Champions League final and two semi-finals, and come back empty-handed.

This year could be the last chance for the core members of the team that made it happen.

Chelsea’s European ambitions have constrained the club as UEFA insists on “financial fair play”.

The club is not short of money, not by a long shot, but this has meant that Chelsea manager Roman Abramovich has had to cut his budget.

This has meant the departure of a renowned signing such as Joe Cole. Another player, Tomas Kalas, who arrived from Sigma Olomuc for a reported 5.2 mn, will be transferred.

In the next season, the team will also be without the services of Miroslav Stoch, who will be sold to Fenerbahce for an undisclosed amount. Michael Ballack will leave for Bayer Leverkusen, Joe Cole for Liverpool and Danny Philiskik for Oxford United, all as free agents.

Players on loan will include Rhys Taylor to Crewe, Ryan Bertrand to Nottingham Forest and Ben Gordon to Kilmarnock.

Carlo Ancelotti has been the club’s most successful manager. Chelsea became the seventh team in history to win the ‘double’, which comprises Premier League and FA Cup titles, under Ancelotti’s supervision last season.

They did not achieve this with José Mourinho, arguably the most successful manager in Chelsea’s history.

In fact, Chelsea were so dominant in 2009/10 that they became the first team to surpass 100 goals, in an English season after Tottenham Hotspurs managed 111 goals in 1962-63.

Ancelotti owes his legendary patience to his rural upbringing. The former Milan midfielder won the Champions League twice as a player and as coach of the Italian team.

A potential weakness for Chelsea next season could be in defense. José Mourinho, the manager of the 2005 Premier League winning team, built the team on a defensive platform.

John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira and Wayne Bridge were the defensive wall that rival teams faced before dreaming of winning against Chelsea five years ago.

Terry and Carvalho, who remain, are clearly getting old, although Arsenal’s Ashley Cole and the Brazilian are excellent new options for Chelsea. Alex is not only solid on defense, but he can also hunt with the hounds and is a particular asset in free kick situations.

This is a team of great personalities, in John Terry, Frank Lampard, Petr Cech and Didier Drogba. On the other hand, this could mean a potential clash between, say, Didier Drogba and the team’s bad boy, Nicolás Anelka.

John Terry, in particular, is the most successful captain in the club’s history. With Liverpool’s Yossi Benayoun replacing Joe Cole this season, they have one more potential captain.

England Frank Lampard was the team’s driving force last season, and his 30 club and international goals is a feat he might find hard to replicate, this time around.

Michael Essien, kept out of the World Cup with Ghana by injury, is the club’s most popular player, while the star of the future is 19-year-old French teenager Gael Kakuta.

Chelsea continues to be the team to beat this season.