Chelsea in Magazines - Tiger, 11-09-1954

 We go back to the 1950's and Tiger comic for our latest installment.

Tiger was a comic aimed at boys but whereas other similar titles were more about war and sci-fi stories, Tiger had more of a focus on sporting titles. It was after all the birthplace of Roy of the Rovers.

It lasted for 30 years between 1954 and 1984 but we are going right back to issue one for this.

Chelsea defender John Harris reveals he had a premonition that saved the Blues from relegation:

Of course, Harris's dream not only saved Chelsea from relegation in 1954: it mean't Chelsea could go on and win the League Championship in 1955.

Match Report: Chelsea 2-1 AFC Wimbledon, Carabao Cup 2nd Round

 

Always tough to assess a match like this.

No, it wasn't Chelsea's strongest line-up but it should have been more than enough for League Two side Wimbledon.

But it doesn't seem to matter what team Chelsea put out or who they are playing, the same problem always remains: Chelsea do not score enough goals.

Wimbledon did give Chelsea a scare when they took a first half lead. Robert Sanchez continued to fail to convince in the Blues goal when he gave away a penalty in the 16th minute that was converted by James Tilley.

Chelsea's half-time blushes were spared when Noni Madueke scored with a penalty of his own but Mauricio Pochettino's team were making hard work of it.

Chelsea's winner owed more to luck than judgement when a mix-up in the Wimbledon defence left substitute Enzo Fernandez with the simple task of placing the ball into the open goal.

Chelsea dominated possession and created more chances to go further ahead but not for the first time were wasteful. Fortunately, Wimbledon never looked like taking advantage of this profligacy. 

The important thing for Chelsea was the win and some players such as Bashir Humphreys, Lesley Ugochukwu and Mason Burstow were making their first starts for the Blues but they still need be more ruthless with their chances.

Brighton in the next round will be a bigger test and Chelsea will need to be a lot sharper.

Team: Sanchez, Humphreys, Disasi, Colwill (Gusto 65'), Cucurella, Gallagher, Ugochukwu, Madueke (Caicedo 81'), Maatsen, Moreira (Jackson 45'), Burstow (Fernandez 65')

Unused Subs: Silva, Chilwell, Petrovic, Bergstrom, Samuels-Smith

Chelsea in Magazines - 90 Minutes, 02-08-1990

 The start of the 90's and 90 Minutes magazine.

90 Minutes was a weekly football magazine that ran for seven years between 1990 and 1997. It was aimed at a more grown up audience than its contemporaries Match and Shoot.

This article is about the rise of satellite TV, illustrated with Chelsea's Zenith Data System Cup win, one of Sky's football offerings.

For many, satellite TV was the beginning of the end for 'real' football, a process that would be accelerated in 1992 with the creation of the Premier League.

New Chelsea Goals Video: Jimmy Greaves

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A video on legendary striker Jimmy Greaves. Not just a legend for Chelsea, but English football in general.

Greaves amassed a fantastic record of 132 goals in 169 games for the Blues between 1957-61.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naJRx724E0I

Match Report: Chelsea 3-0 Luton Town

 

A massive confidence builder for Chelsea.

Three Goals for Chelsea, two for Raheem Sterling, one for Nicolas Jackson and zero conceded.

Chelsea dominated from the start and it was just a matter of time before the Blues took the lead.

The breakthrough came on 17 minutes when Raheem Sterling (who has arguably been Chelsea's best player so far this season) danced his way through the Luton defence before placing the ball in the bottom left corner.

Chelsea had to wait until deep into the second half to double their advantage. Chelsea missed several good chances (most notably Ben Chilwell when he tried to square the ball to Sterling despite being through on goal and in a better position) and the old doubts were starting to set in the crowd, who were all too familiar with Chelsea failing to kill opposition only for it to come back and bite them.

Then on 68 minutes, a Malo Gusto low cross from the right was swept into the goal by Sterling.

In the 77th minute, the moment a lot of Chelsea fans had been waiting for: Sterling turned provider and from his low cross, Nicolas Jackson got ahead of the Luton defence to poke home his first Chelsea goal. It was a goal his performances for Chelsea so far have richly merited.

Luton never really looked like getting back into the game though a mix-up between Levi Colwill and Robert Sanchez did nearly gift the Hatters a consolation goal. Sanchez was probably the only real question mark for Chelsea on the night as his performances thus far have not been entirely convincing.

It was a good win for Chelsea who needed to bounce back after the disappointment against West Ham. Sterling was superb with his running, Enzo Fernandez's passing reminiscent of peak Fabregas at times and now with his first goal under his belt, Jackson has something he can build on now.

Luton aren't likely to be the toughest opposition Chelsea face this season but when you haven't won at home for eight months and been struggling for goals, its a good base for Chelsea to build from.

Team: Sanchez 6, Colwill 6, Silva 6, Disasi 5, Chilwell 6 (Maatsen 86'), Gusto 6, Fernandez 8, Caicedo 6, Gallagher 7, Jackson 9 (Ugochukwu 83'), Sterling 9 (Burstow 90+2')

Unused Subs: Cucurella, Madueke, Moreira, Bergstrom, Humphreys, Beach

Chelsea in Magazines - Shoot, 27-06-1981

 

Back to the 80's and newly appointed manager John Neal talks in Shoot magazine about the massive challenge ahead of him as Chelsea manager.

Back then Chelsea were in Divison Two, so obviously the ultimate goal was promotion. What;s interesting is how its juxtaposed with Howard Kendall at Everton and there are some similarities between their two reigns. Both had their early struggles, came close to losing their jobs but were ultimately successful. 

Neal won promotion as Chelsea manager in 1984 while Kendall won multiple trophies for Everton.

Match Report: West Ham United 3-1 Chelsea

 

New season, same old Chelsea.

Chelsea had a lot of the ball but rarely looked like scoring against a West Ham United side that played a lot of the second half with 10 men.

The game did not start well for Chelsea, when West Ham nearly took a third minute lead from a James Ward-Prowse corner. Chelsea did not learn their lesson and the Hammers took the lead from a near identical corner on 7 minutes, Nayef Aguerd heading home at the back post.

Chelsea did come back into it and Carney Chukwuemeka equalised in 28th minute, cutting in from the left before curling the ball in at the far-post.

Chelsea dominated the play in the first half from then on but failed to capitalise on their superiority. Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Jackson were particularly threatening.

Then two key incidents that perhaps shaped what was to come in the second half. First, Chelsea got a penalty in the 43rd minute for a foul on Sterling. Enzo Fernandez stepped up to take but it was saved by Alphonse Areola.

And in first-half stoppage time, the ever dangerous Chukwuemeka pulled up with an injury.

That set-up what would prove a torrid second half for Chelsea. Sloppy play in the midfield allowed the ball to break to Michail Antonio, who's low drive into the bottom left corner gave West Ham a 53rd minute lead.

Chelsea continued to dominate the play but West Ham were now sitting deeper to counteract Jackson and Sterling's runs. Chelsea hardly troubled the West Ham goal.

Chelsea were given hope in the 67th minute when Aguerd got a second yellow card for a clumsy foul on Jackson but truthfully, Chelsea looked no more likely to score against 10 men then they did against 11.

Chelsea's record signing Moises Caicedo came on for a frankly underwhelming debut. If you had never seen him before, you would struggle to believe this is the guy Chelsea went to so much trouble to sign. His poor display was topped off when he conceded an injury-time penalty, duely converted by Lucas Paqueta.

It's difficult to look for positives when it looks all so familiar. The Liverpool game perhaps gave false hope things had changed. Liverpool play a more attacking style than most so there is always space that can be exploited. So against a more defensive side like West Ham, the old problems surface. Lots of the ball in attacking areas but no bite to it.

Next up for Chelsea is Luton Town at Stamford Bridge on Friday night. Mauricio Pochettino will be looking for far more from his players then they showed today.

Team: Sanchez 5, Disasi 4, Silva 6, Colwill 6, Gusto 5 (Burstow 83'), Fernandez 4, Gallagher 5 (Madueke 75'), Chillwell 5 (Caicedo 61', 3), Chukwuemeka 8 (Mudryk 45', 3), Jackson 6, Sterling 7

Unused subs: Cucurella, Ugochukwu, Maatsen, Bergstrom, Humphreys 

Classic Chelsea Goals Video: Chelsea Goals vs Arsenal 90's

 

Every goal Chelsea scored against Arsenal in the 1990's, featuring classic strikes from Dennis Wise, Roberto Di Matteo, Gianluca Vialli and more...

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qePNC9H50fU

Match Report and Ratings: Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool

 

A point for Chelsea in their opening game. It could have been all three but equally, it could have been none.

Confusing? Well, that was the game.

At times, Chelsea looked really good and dominated a strong Liverpool side but other times they looked like what they were: a team that had never really played together.

Liverpool came out of the blocks stronger and took a deserved 18th minute lead when Mohamed Salah played a superb defence splitting pass to Luis Diaz to slide in.

It could have been either better for Liverpool when on the half hour mark, Salah put the ball in the net but VAR ruled he was just offside.

This seemed to galvanise the Chelsea team, who had been very much second best to that point. In the 37th minute they got their reward, when chaos from a corner eventually ended with the ball falling to debutante Axel Disasi on the edge of the six yard box. It wasn't the cleanest connection but Chelsea fans won't care about that.

Two minutes later, Chelsea thought they had taken the lead when Ben Chilwell went round Alisson to slot home but this time VAR came to Liverpool's rescue, ruling Chilwell was offside.

In the second half, Liverpool thought they could have had a penalty when the ball appeared to strike Nicolas Jackson's arm but nothing given.

From that point, Chelsea dominated the possession but apart from a couple of efforts from Chilwell and Jackson, probably didn't do enough to really work Alisson in the Liverpool goal.

Darwin Nunez nearly stole it for Liverpool at the end but his deflected effort went just wide.

Overall, a draw was a fair result. It was a nervy start for the Blues but they grew into the game.

Enzo Fernandez put in the display you would expect from a player with his price tag. Nicolas Jackson is already drawing the Didier Drogba comparisons. There is potential but we will see how he develops within this team.

Thiago Silva put in another of those performances that make it hard to believe he turns 39 in less than a month.

Most concerning for Chelsea was the withdrawal of Reece James seemingly with injury. Chelsea noticeably lost a lot of momentum when he came off the pitch. A fantastic player but injury prone.

Another tough game next up with a trip to West Ham United but plenty for Chelsea fans to be optimistic about.

Chelsea Line-Up: Sanchez 5, Disasi 6, Silva 8, Colwill 6, James 8 (Gusto 76'), Fernandez 9, Gallagher 5, Chukwuemeka 5 (Maatsen 81'), Chilwell 7 (Ugochukwu 90'), Sterling 4 (Mudryk 81'), Jackson 7

Unused Subs: Cucurella, Madueke, Santos, Bergstrom, Burstow

Classic Chelsea Goals Video: Drew Spence

 

My newest goal video is celebrating former Chelsea women midfielder, Drew Spence.

In a career with the Blues spanning 13 years, Spence scored 50 goals in 238 appearances winning multiple honours along the way.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVIrvqWdTgc

Chelsea 2023-24 Season Preview

 

I think it's fair to say, 2022-23 was not a season many Chelsea fans will look back on with any great fondness.

It started mediocrely, then got worse with sacking of popular manager Thomas Tuchel out of nowhere.

Graham Potter arrived from Brighton and after some initial success, Chelsea went on a run of form that was amongst the worst Stamford Bridge has seen for many a year.

Frank Lampard came back for a second spell as manager and picked up where he'd left off at Everton, i.e. losing every other game.

In the end, Chelsea limped to a poor 12th place finish, behind Brentford, Fulham and Crystal Palace. It was the first time Chelsea had finished outside the top 10 since 1996.

Chelsea losing at home to a poor Southampton side 18/02/2023

There is an argument to be made it was the worst Chelsea team ever.

Consider the Chelsea team of 1982-83, almost relegated to the third tier of English football. But they were a rag-tag side and Chelsea didn't have a lot of money at the time to improve them. Not so last season. Chelsea had a squad bursting with talent, Champions League and World Cup winners. Yeah, they were unlucky with injuries but there was no excuse for them to be as bad as they were.

So how are Chelsea likely to do this season?

Who can say? Rate of change has been so rapid at Chelsea. For an indicator of this, consider that of the 23 players in Chelsea's 2021 Champions League Final squad (only a little over two years ago), just five remain at the club (and it doesn't look like Callum Hudson-Odoi will be a part of Mauricio Pochettino's plans).

Goals were obviously a massive concern for Chelsea last season, managing a paltry 50 in all competitions (for comparison, Manchester City's Erling Haaland scored 52).

Is anyone likely to score many this season? Nicolas Jackson and Christophe Nkunku have both looked good in pre-season so there is at least some hope.

Nicolas Jackson in pre-season action

In defence, where do you start? Our best centre back turns 39 in a month (Thiago Silva). Wesley Fofana appears to be a little injury prone. Trevoh Chalobah is ok but always seems to have the big error in him. Benoit Badiashile and Levi Colwill both look like good prospects though. Axel Disasi we'll see how he settles in.

Of more concern is the full back position. Reece James and Ben Chillwell are fantastic. When they're fit, which is unfortunately not too often these days. Marc Cucarella needs to seriously up his game this season. Ian Maartsen and Malo Gusto along with Lewis Hall look like they could all be decent back-up.

Rumours are Chelsea are not done in the transfer market just yet with Moises Caicedo and Neymar both seeming like strong possibilities. As well as that, Chelsea fans are hoping Enzo Fernandez and Mykhailo Mudryk use this season to step up and justify their large transfer fees.

And finally, the gaffer: Mauricio Pochettino. Chelsea fans would have to begrudgingly admit, he did a good job at Tottenham. The only thing his term lacked was silverware. At PSG, he did finally get to taste what that was like so maybe that has given him the winning mentality required.

Mauricio Pochettino

We won't really know anything until the games start and we've given a real tough one to start: Liverpool, who are going through a bit of a transition themselves.

There is cause for optimism though, there is a lot of talent in the squad and possibly more to come so fingers crossed for a great season.

Chelsea in Magazines - Scorcher, issue 2, 17th January 1970

 

January 1970 and a new football comic has hit the scene, Scorcher.

It lasted four years and was probably most notable for introducing Billy's Boots to the world.

But in among the fiction was real football stuff. And one such item was this piece on Chelsea striker Ian Hutchinson:

A brief description of how Hutchinson became a pro, from being released by Nottingham Forest to ending up at Chelsea via Cambridge United.

Classic Chelsea Goals Video: Frank Sinclair

 

My newest Chelsea goals video is now available on my Youtube Channel and it's all about defender Frank Sinclair:

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXkdwEVh7jA

Chelsea in Magazines - Goal, Issue 1, 10th August 1968

 

This is the first in a series where I find old magazine articles about Chelsea and/or Chelsea players.

Like most print media, football magazines are struggling but were a part of every football fans journey growing up.

First up, we have the very first issue of Goal magazine from August 1968.

A popular magazine for its time, Goal ran for 6 years before being absorbed into Shoot.

The first item up, is about play-makers and for Chelsea that meant John Hollins:

To summarise, Kev here thinks the game is too dominated by the big, physical players with little room for flair. Hollins is highlighted as an example of the more skillful player he has high hopes for.

Doing less well however, is Alan Birchenall:

As if to show that Chelsea big money signings (Birchenall cost Chelsea £100,000, big money at the time) not working out isn't a recent phenomenom, Birchenall wasn't assured of a starting place in Dave Sexton's team.

Now, this little bit:

I haven't checked but I've got a feeling Cambridge got their bonus.

And finally:

If there is a criticism that could be made of Charlie Cooke it would be that he didn't score as many goals as a player of his ability perhaps should have.

So in this article, Charlie is promising to score more goals for the Blues. Did he succeed?

Erm, not really, no. In 1967/68 season, Cooke scored five goals in total. In 1968/69 he scored two.

That's all for this first issue Readers but there will be more exciting things to come in future!