Chelsea Season Preview

Chelsea ended last season winning the FA Cup after falling just short in the Premier and Champions League.  They have opened this season with a Community Shield win over Manchester United and look stronger by not being weaker.  Despite having ridiculous sums of money thrown at him, John Terry has - for now - spurned Manchester City to stay.  Drogba, Carvalho and Deco have stayed with the club too.  While the group is a year older, they are a settled side.  Something that can't be said for the other contenders.

The benefits to having a settled line-up can't be overstated for fantasy managers.  With Zhirkov and Cole injured, and Ancelotti using the pre-season to familiarize the players with a new formation there is little doubt who and how they will play. And there is obvious value in Lampard pushing forward at the top of a diamond midfield, with strikers the quality of Drogba and Anelka. The defence will continue to be one of the stingiest units in the League despite Cech not being the keeper he was before his injury.

But the downside to having a settled line-up for fantasy managers, is that Chelsea's stars are expensive options. Save for Mikel under 5, you won't find a starter for less than 9. There are entire other teams in the game who don't have a player valued at over 9! So while you'll want Chelsea players on your fantasy team - opening the season at home to Hull! - you will have to pay for the privilege.

Possible Starting XI:  Cech, Bosingwa, Carvalho, Terry, A Cole, Mikel, Essien, Malouda, Lampard, Anelka, Drogba

Players to Watch:

Didier Drogba: A new half-season, a new manager, and yet more uncertainty around the Chelsea striker position. On one hand, you have the last season's leading scorer in Anelka and on the other you have Drogs who has been their best striker over the few season before last. Throw into the mix a manager who tends towards cautious 4-5-1 formations and the fact that Drogs and Elk never really developed much of a partnership and Drogba (at a reasonable price) is among the most interesting propositions in fantasy football coming into the season. Well, really both guys are pretty interesting. With both having started against AC Milan in a recent friendly and neither having even played against Club America Ancelotti's hand has certainly not been tipped. I currently have Drogba inserted into my line-up on the theory that if healthy Chelsea have to start him. I could just as easily be very bitter after Week 1 if Ancelotti decidese that Elk is the lone striker with Malouda, Zhirkov, Lampard, Essien, and Pirlo/Mikel behind him.

Joe Cole: I was originally going to write about Frank Lampard in this spot but Lamps will be Lamps for fantasy purposes - you'll pay a lot but he'll deliver pretty consistently and make you happy for having spent the money with the only possible caveat being the potential loss of some kicks to Pirlo if he arrives as rumored (and rumored, and rumored...). More interesting is Joe Cole who after being injured for a great deal of last season returns to an even more cluttered midfield/attacking landscape. Attempts to make him a RM have never really succeeded, Chelsea have way too many attacking CMs already including one who tends not to be substituted often, if ever in Lamps. With Ballack still hanging around wanting to play in similar space and being similarly inconsistent and Essien being best suited for a central but not holding role you have to wonder exactly where on the depth-chart Joe Cole actually is. My guess is that his best move would be out the exit door and on to a club that would give him a consistent run as an attacking midfielder behind the strikers (Villa? Fulham? or dare I say it ManYoo as the replacement for Scholes?). Unless I'm proven entirely wrong on his status vs. that of his teammates, it probably doesn't matter how inexpensive he is, his name is going to be much higher profile than the results he brings.

Yuri Zhirkov: In the real world, if you pay as much money for someone as Chelsea paid for Zhirkov then you have to assume that he's going to be a first choice starter unless he really falls on his face making the switch from a lesser league to the Prem. From what I've seen of Zhirkov, he's going to have no trouble adjusting and producing as a fantasy player when he plays. The only concern I have is that Malouda seemed to have finally made at least a decent adjustment to the Prem in the second half of last season after a year and half of looking like a washout. Instead of the planned summer sale, he was retained and now throws the left side of midfield into a bit of disarray. I'm still banking on Zhirkov being the de facto starter but with Malouda around he's likely to be something less than a fulltime starter and there exists the chance that he will actually be second choice thereby angering fantasy managers everywhere and making them like the unlovable Italian manager (do they make another kind in Italy?) even more so (didn't think that was possible).