'To some extent, the season is just getting started'

It is now April - the end of the season is in sight - yet it still feels difficult to know where this Chelsea side are in terms of its development. Are they a good team who have been unlucky with injuries since the turn of the year? Or are they a bad team who rode a wave of freshness and momentum when everyone was available in the autumn? Even their stats are hard to interpret. On the one hand, they have conceded just two goals in their past seven games.

On the other hand, they have only won one away game since December - and that was in the Conference League. Their league position is just as inconclusive. They were fourth after Sunday's draw at Brentford, but are just two bad results away from being eighth.



This final run of games will hopefully produce some definitive answers. While Wesley Fofana has now been ruled out for the season, the rest of Enzo Maresca's favoured XI are back fit and they have competitive games against strong teams still to come, in which they can prove they are as good as they looked earlier in the campaign. By all accounts, Maresca's job is safe and the ownership are happy with the progress of their project throughout this season.

However, it is the fans who are, largely, much less sure about the direction things are heading. As ever in football, narrative and recency bias control a lot of the sentiment around a team, and going into the summer on an upward trajectory like they did last year will be vital for creating an optimistic mood at the club. The Conference League and Club World Cup will also be hugely important in proving that there has been progress since August.

While other teams are starting to think about their holidays, to some extent the season is really just getting started for Chelsea. Find more from Will Faulks at Chelsea News.