The 2025\/26 campaign closed as a clear backward step for Chelsea, a season defined by inconsistency on the pitch and rising unrest off it. Fans staged vocal protests over the club\u2019s direction, though that anger eased somewhat with the news that Xabi Alonso will be the next manager.<\/p>\n
Jo\u00e3o Pedro was the clearest positive. He finished with 20 goals across all competitions and shouldered most of the creative and finishing burden, particularly during the difficult period under Liam Rosenior. Pedro\u2019s 20 goals (15 in the Premier League, five in cups) contrasted sharply with the limited returns of other summer additions.<\/p>\n
Jamie Gittens produced the season\u2019s single unforgettable moment away at Wolverhampton Wanderers in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, scoring a stunning trivela half-volley in the 89th minute and adding two assists in that match. It was, however, an isolated flash in an otherwise disappointing debut season that yielded just one goal.<\/p>\n
One high point arrived in November when Enzo Maresca\u2019s side beat Barcelona 3\u20130 at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea registered 56% possession, outshot Barcelona 15 to five and limited the eventual La Liga champions to nine touches in the Chelsea box while registering 35 touches in their opponent\u2019s area. That display suggested potential that the rest of the season failed to build on.<\/p>\n
The summer window produced mixed results. Jo\u00e3o Pedro emerged as the standout signing, while transfers such as Liam Delap failed to make equivalent impact. Spending under BlueCo, following the Club World Cup win, did not deliver the sustained reinforcement required, and the club did not sufficiently respond to Enzo Maresca\u2019s plea for a new centre back after Levi Colwill\u2019s knee injury.<\/p>\n
Jorrel Hato was a rare bright spot in defence. The Dutch defender, signed from Ajax, overcame a slow start to be one of the better performers in the first half of 2026, deputising at both centre back and left back and looking a promising 20-year-old prospect.<\/p>\n
Chelsea finished 10th in the Premier League, exited the Champions League in the round of 16 and reached the FA Cup final. The appointment of Alonso brings hope, but the club\u2019s hierarchy and recruitment will face intense scrutiny ahead of 2026\/27.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chelsea slide to 10th, Champions League exit in last-16, FA Cup final run and ownership questions…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14057,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[190,969],"tags":[1505,1317,1637],"class_list":["post-14058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea","category-premier-league","tag-accountability","tag-accounts-2025-26","tag-assists"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}