Strengths:
Physicality - Chelsea have a lot of either very fast or very strong footballers, which gives them a huge edge. Matic, Terry and Cahill are extremely strong and this makes it difficult to break them down, whilst Costa is a big presence famed for his pace and strength combination.
Creativity - Chelsea were much maligned for their defensive style in the big games, but their squad is capable of much, much more. The addition of Fabregas should bring even more creativity to the team and take the pressure off of Hazard and Oscar to be the main creators. This means that Chelsea have three players who are extremely creative which, when you've got one of the deadliest forwards in Europe, should be a very dangerous combination.
Discipline and the Jose Mourinho factor - Mourinho is extremely good at creating disciplined teams who don't concede many goals, which suits their back four perfectly. Filipe Luis and Azpilicueta are two of the best defensive full backs in world football, whilst Terry and Cahill benefit from a more disciplined style. Having Jose Mourinho as a coach gives Chelsea a huge advantage.
Depth - Chelsea have an absolutely amazing squad, with world-class starters and extremely good back-ups. Andre Schurrle showed what he can do coming off the bench in the World Cup for Germany, Ramires is an energetic and dynamic midfielder with bags of pace - the list goes on.
Weaknesses:
Aging players - Chelsea's squad isn't exactly ancient, but players like Terry and now Drogba are aging and we may not see their best. Terry especially, as he may have to play a lot of games and I'm not sure how he'll deal with that.
Signings:
Francesc Fabregas - Fabregas is a superb player with a great passing range who can score goals, but he does have a tendency to drift in and out of games and indeed, seasons. However, on his day he can single-handedly win games and Chelsea will be a better team with him playing, of that I'm sure.
Diego Costa - Fast, strong and a deadly finisher, Diego Costa could be the striker that Chelsea fans have been screaming out for. Despite a disappointing World Cup, Costa is a fantastic striker and when fit, he will be a deadly force up top for Chelsea.
Filipe Luis - After an amazing season with Atletico it was inevitable that Luis would be snapped up by a richer team. He's a superb defender who is more than capable on the ball, similar to Ashley Cole if you will. Could be a fantastic acquisition and it means that Azpilicueta can move to his natural right hand side.
Didier Drogba - This one I don't understand, but maybe Mourinho has a plan for him. Drogba's last kick as a Chelsea player was to win them the Champions League - why come back and change that? Drogba is aging and past his prime so I'm not entirely sure why he has been re-signed.
Who They Should Sign:
A Central Defender - They don't need any players really, but a long term replacement for Terry would not go amiss. Kurt Zouma has a lot of potential but is not yet ready, so a truly world-class centre-half would make them easily the best squad in the league.
Final Thoughts:
I think that in terms of the title Chelsea are the team to beat. They have an almost flawless squad, a top marksman in Costa, a disciplined defence and probably the best manager in the league. I'd be very surprised if Chelsea don't win the league in fact; I can't see any team that is going to beat them.
Chelsea's only possible issue might be consistency. Mourinho lives for the big games and I think they will do well against the other title contenders, but it's often games against bottom half teams that they slip up on. However, Mourinho put that down to not having a powerful striker akin to Drogba, so with Costa on the books they should be fine.
It's difficult to find any reason why Chelsea may struggle as they have world-class players in every area of the pitch and they have to be favourites to win the league.
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