Chelsea progress report: Best players, underachievers and season performance so far | OneFootball

There's been a weird feeling around Stamford Bridge this season. One of optimism and excitement - two sentiments fans had slowly been forgetting.

Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali's continued pleas for patience finally appear to be making sense as Chelsea, while not yet the finished article by any stretch, have made plenty of progress and the idea that this utterly bonkers past two years could actually prove worthwhile no longer feels so fanciful.

With close to a third of the season in the books already, 90min takes a look back at Chelsea's 2024/25 season so far.

A solid showing so far / Crystal Pix/MB Media/GettyImages

After the chaos of the past few seasons, Chelsea's decision to commit to an inexperienced boss in Enzo Maresca seemed destined to fail, but the Blues have exceeded expectations to climb up to third in the Premier League table.

It hasn't always been perfect but Chelsea's performances have largely been positive and, strong showings against Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal did not yield the results they deserved. It's a sign that Chelsea have taken a huge step in the right direction, but still have work to do to firmly establish themselves as a domestic powerhouse once again.

In cup football, the Conference League has been the easy ride we all expected it to be so far, but the Carabao Cup run came to an abrupt end in the fourth round at the hands of Newcastle United. It was the reserves who fell to defeat, however, so there aren't too many conclusions to draw from that.

Caicedo has been brilliant / Michael Regan/GettyImages

It's incredibly easy to continue to sing the praises of Cole Palmer, who deserves those plaudits as he leads the club in both goals and assists, but we cannot continue without giving Moises Caicedo his flowers. The Ecuador international has looked every bit the £115m player he was supposed to be, and there's a genuine case to claim he has been the best midfielder in the Premier League this season.

Elsewhere, Nicolas Jackson continues to laugh in the face of his critics, while at the back, Marc Cucurella's resurgence deserves immense credit and the emerging partnership of Levi Colwill and Wesley Fofana has fans excited for the future.

Christopher Nkunku's minutes may have been limited, but he has still struck nine goals in seven cup games. Credit where credit is due.

Underachievers

Fernandez has fallen on to the fringes / Visionhaus/GettyImages

While Caicedo looks to have settled into his new surroundings, the same cannot be said of Enzo Fernandez, who is once again fighting to find his best position in a midfield setup which, up to now, does not appear to suit him. The Argentine wore the captain's armband to start the season but has found himself coming off the bench in recent weeks.

Summer signing Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has endured a forgettable start to life at Stamford Bridge, seeing just 43 minutes of Premier League action and failing to make the matchday squad more often than not. Questions have to be asked about the decision to spend £30m on his services.

In defence, Robert Sanchez continues to fluctuate between world-beater and nightmare-in-waiting, while the reserve defensive duo of Axel Disasi and Benoit Badiashile have a lot of work to do to prove themselves under Maresca. Malo Gusto's recent use in an inverted role has almost entirely nullified his impact on the team.

Season expectations

A strong start from Maresca / Mike Hewitt/GettyImages

At the start of the season, 90min predicted Chelsea would finish the 2024/25 campaign in eighth. Clearly, it would be a surprise to see the Blues tumble that far down based on their early season form.

We're not talking about a title charge - not unless City's collapse continues and Liverpool decide to follow suit - but Chelsea have every reason to believe they can qualify for the Champions League this year, with a spot in the 2025/26 Europa League the least fans will be able to accept.

A spot in Europe's second-tier competition should be sealed by lifting the Conference League trophy anyway. Maresca's side are overwhelming favourites and should make it deep in the competition without getting out of second gear, at which point the big names can join the fun and secure the first men's silverware of the BlueCo era.