Enzo Maresca’s young side face league leaders Arsenal on Sunday on a high but have moved on from the emotional swings of old
T
he worst way for Chelsea to respond to their demolition of Barcelona would be to believe the hype. The problem is that emotions in football swing from one extreme to another, as the people running things at Stamford Bridge have quickly come to appreciate.
They have faced plenty of ridicule for their alternative approach since buying the club from Roman Abramovich three years ago, so perhaps they are entitled to be a little sceptical now that Chelsea are being praised for their transfer strategy and talked up as potential title challengers before hosting Arsenal on Sunday.
Contrary to public perception, this is not a board that gets carried away easily. The initial chaos has subsided – Chelsea have had four permanent managers since their takeover by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital – and the aim of building a sustainable long‑term project is incompatible with overreacting to one bad result, one decent run of form or even one thumping win over Barça in the Champions League.
