Long-awaited start of the new "Premier" league season will take place today at 14:30. Before the start of the English championship, sports journalist and London "Chelsea" fan Martynas Pocius, along with the most visited football news portal in the country - "Eurofootball.com", agreed to share his thoughts on the "blues" team and the upcoming "Premier" league season.
Since when and why did you start supporting "Chelsea"?
- I started to support Chelsea in 1999. The reason is very simple - Gianfranco Zola, who was my favorite player at the time. Back then, there were practically no opportunities to watch foreign club football matches like we have now, but Chelsea played in the Champions League that season, which was broadcasted by one of our TV channels, and Gianfranco Zola played for them. Led by this Italian, the London team played really good football, so I started to follow their results, news, watch matches and so on. I have been doing that ever since.
- Last season, defending their title, Chelsea finished just in the tenth position. In your opinion, what caused such an unsuccessful season?
- The reasons, without being inside the team, are hard to predict. However, the fact that there were several, because it's strange that a team that held the entire championship core could collapse like that in the next season. I guess mistakes were made during the preseason stage. I heard that team leaders were given too long holidays, so they didn't have enough time to prepare properly for the season and later struggled to fight on four fronts in the championship and cups.
Also, it is clear that the team did not "refresh" before the season and, releasing and loaning out some good players, they were left without a real reserve. With injuries and disqualifications piling up, we could clearly see that by looking at the bench during the matches, where the substitutes of the reserve team were sitting in prime positions. Also, the team no longer had that old backbone, those leaders who dragged the team behind them - I mean D. Drogba, P. Cech, F. Lampard. In short, there were really many reasons, but I hope it was a one-time case and it will not happen again soon.
- This summer, a new coach, Antonio Conte, took over Chelsea. What is your opinion on this coach and what should he bring to the "blues" game?
- Of course, the opinion about A. Conte is only good. Bad coaches do not train clubs like "Juventus" or the Italian national team, so I'm really glad that he was given the team's helm, because change is simply necessary.
First of all, the team needs discipline, which was lacking last season, and this coach likes and demands that the team work as precisely as a clock. I believe he will be able to manage high-level stars, who, again, I heard were not afraid to express their desires.
- This summer, Chelsea was joined by Michy Batshuayi and N'Golo Kante. How do you rate the newcomers to the team?
- A. Conte likes formations with two true forwards. If he uses them in England, then M. Batshuayi can become a very important player, especially considering the capabilities of D. Costa to occasionally be disqualified or injured. Again, the English league has its specifics and by no means all good players fit into it, but the physical qualities of this forward seem suitable for the championship, I think he has all the possibilities to become one of the team's leaders.
But these are just considerations, as talks about a possible departure of D. Costa and the arrival of R. Lukaku are still ongoing. In any case, the arrival of a forward who has already proven himself capable of scoring goals is a good news.
What N. Kante can do in England - we all saw it last year. I think any team would be happy to have such a player. I think he could become something like C. Makelele, who played for "Chelsea" and whose game was often underestimated, invisible, but had a huge importance for the team.
Let's hope that A. Conte will be able to squeeze the maximum out of both of these players.
- This offseason, "Manchester United" spent the most on transfers out of all "Premier" league teams, this summer breaking the all-time transfer record by acquiring Paul Pogba for 105 million euros. In your opinion, is Pogba worth such an amount?
- Players' prices have skyrocketed these days. I think the majority of them are worth at least half of what is paid for them. Again, if the buyer and the seller have agreed on a price acceptable to both sides, it is probably fair. I will not judge whether P. Pogba is worth this amount. He should prove it with his game in England. I just congratulate Juventus on getting fantastic money and also congratulate Manchester United on acquiring a world-class player. I hope that playing against Chelsea, he will not prove his worth.
- Many teams in the "Premier" league have ambitious goals for this season and many of them tried to strengthen in the summer. In your opinion, which of the “Premier” league teams has strengthened the most this summer?
- Undoubtedly, judging by the names of the incoming players and coaches, both Manchester clubs did that.
- If you had to guess how the final tournament table would look like, how would you place the top five?
- The champions will undoubtedly be my supported Chelsea. Next, I would rank Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, and Arsenal.
Tautvydas Sakalauskas
