A blog of two halves

Quiet contenders

Everything’s clicking for Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City...

30 October 2018
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Ross Barkley of Chelsea celebrates with Alvaro Morata. PICTURE: GETTY IMAGES

Everything’s clicking for Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City... but unbeaten Chelsea are quietly going about their business and (whisper it) are still league contenders.

On the last two occasions the Blues were undefeated in their first 10 games – 2005-06 and 2014-15 – they won the title.

New gaffer Morrie Sarri, combined with the people skills of his deputy Gianfranco Zola, are working a little miracle behind the scenes, turning Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek from squad fodder into first-teamers… even when talisman Eden Hazard is out with a back niggle.

The Belgian wizard aims to be in the starting line-up again when Palace visit the Bridge on Sunday afternoon, but it’s Chelsea’s away form that is really starting to catch the eye.

Victories at Huddersfield, Newcastle, Southampton and Burnley may not sound earth-shattering, but while there are sterner tests ahead, it’s the manner of the wins that is impressing.

Strong, keen and almost clairvoyant in his anticipation, Barkley played a pivotal role as the Blues overwhelmed Burnley last weekend, although the home side gave Chelsea more space than they’re used to.

Sarri now calls him a ‘complete player’ after he scored one and teed up a further two in the 4-0 win at Turf Moor.

Even Alvaro Morata scored. Barkley slid the ball in for the striker to jab past Joe Hart in the 22nd minute, while Loftus-Cheek added another to his midweek Europa League hat-trick feat. Bring on Palace.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.

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Tim Harrison

Tim is our Chelsea FC blogger.

Tim has been writing Chelsea match reports since the late 1980s for newspapers and, more recently, websites.

When he first reported on the Blues, the press box was a metal cage suspended over the lip of the old west stand - and you reached it via a precarious walkway over the heads of the fans.

But he has been a Chelsea fan since his father took an excited seven-year-old to watch Chelsea v Manchester United in the mid 1960s... and covered his ears every time the chanting got too ripe.

In July 2005 he wrote The Rough Guide to Chelsea, published by Penguin, which sold 15,000 copies.

His favourite player of all time is Charlie Cooke, the mazy winger who lit up Chelsea's left wing in the 60s and 70s.

When he isn't watching the Blues, Tim acts, paints, writes and researches local history.

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