Chelsea can reflect on a very positive calendar year in 2024, although they’ve actually set one unwanted record in the Premier League.
The young and talented Chelsea squad has taken giant strides forward in the last 12 months.
There are several players in the Blues dressing room that have elevated their levels in the last year. For example, Gary Neville has praised Moises Caicedo’s huge improvement at Chelsea by claiming he’s gone from “awful” to “outstanding”.
Even if there’s been a few dodgy results over the festive period, Enzo Maresca is doing a superb job as the Chelsea manager.
Chelsea set unwanted yellow card record
OptaJoe has shared via X that Chelsea actually picked up the most yellow cards across the Premier League in 2024, which is not a record that any team should want.
In fact, the Blues are the first club to receive 100+ bookings in two different years, achieving the feat in 2023 as well.
Paul Robinson labelled Chelsea as “petulant” after their recent league defeat to Ipswich Town, which is a harsh but fair way to describe the current group of players. At times, they’re guilty of losing their cool, and a lack of experience must be a contributing factor.
This is definitely an issue that Maresca needs to address at the start of 2025 with his players because bookings and suspensions will start to cost them.
Marc Cucurella is a main culprit
Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella, 26, is definitely a main culprit when it comes to his side’s disciplinary issue.
In 2024, Cucurella collected 11 out of Chelsea’s 100 yellow cards in the Premier League.
The £60m defender (BBC) is one of the senior figures in a young dressing room at Stamford Bridge, so he should be setting the tone in a much better way. While it’s great that he plays on the line with his high aggression, he’s got to start avoiding constant bookings for needless situations.
Thomas Frank previously criticised Chelsea’s Cucurella for holding his face, which is something we’d love to see disappear from his game.
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