The shift of vibe at Chelsea is evident but must last – Talk Chelsea

t was literally just a few weeks ago when people like Gary Neville were predicting total gloom for Chelsea under our current ownership.

But this week, the narrative has changed, and there has been a ‘vibe shift.’

Talk about fans flip flopping opinions and being reactionary both ways, it seems the media are just the same as well.

Neville is now saying he thinks Chelsea can finish top 4/5, just weeks after predicting our demise.

And it’s not just Neville, who I think sometimes can have some good opinions, but the media are generally shifting their views on Chelsea.

I think it’s absolutely fine to change opinions by the way, it’s completely natural and all football fans do it. I do it, you do it, we all do it. There’s nothing at all wrong with that. There’s also nothing wrong with people doubting Chelsea under the ownership – we have all had our concerns of late, and these concerns are probably still there for many, and will come back again down the line for many others. The game is full of ups and downs, and that is why I am just enjoying and soaking up the good feelings we have right now.

I think all the above is just why I try so hard to stay as balanced and level-headed as possible throughout this process and project at our club. I think I mainly just do that for my own sanity more than anything else.

But there is certainly a vibe shift right now, in more ways than one.

George Simms of iNews has written a very good article this week, and his article is what prompted me to write this. It really made me see how the media are shifting their narrative after Chelsea won three games on the bounce. When the chips are down, they are all over you. But simply winning three games in a row, the narrative does a 180’.

It’s natural I guess. And as I said, what Simms has written is actually bang on.

In Simms’ opening paragraph, he says: “It looks better. It feels better. By every tangible statistic or intangible sense of burgeoning optimism, it is better. Over an 11-day halcyon run of three wins, seven goals scored and one conceded, there has been a vibe shift at Chelsea.”

And then he hones in on Raheem Sterling to give him some deserved praise.

“No one embodies this atmospheric alteration quite like Raheem Sterling,” Simms continued.

“He was signed in July 2022 to be the marquee exhibit in Chelsea’s planned gallery of superstars, and despite the delayed onset, he’s beginning to meet the brief. For much of the first half of the eventual 4-1 win over Burnley, Chelsea needed someone to take responsibility of the situation, to act to improve it – and Sterling actually did.

“That may sound like a simple ask for an 82-cap England international, but after the year Chelsea have had, Sterling’s penchant for turning nothing into something may as well be a talent for turning water into wine.

“This has been a tumultuous, psychologically challenging year for Sterling. He has been attempting to find stability at a new club in chaos, under four different managers, after choosing to leave a side which would win the Treble the same season.

“He was the victim of armed robbery while doing his darndest to carry England to the World Cup, before being dropped by Gareth Southgate throughout 2023. He took disproportionate blame for Chelsea’s underperformance entirely because of the high expectations based on his elite reputation. It’s been a hard year to be Raheem Sterling.

“And despite all this, here he was, jinking, grinning, finger-wagging in celebration as he scored his third Premier League goal of the season in seven starts.”

And the ‘vibe shift’ he speaks about is exactly what I touched upon in one of my other articles on my own website, Si Phillips Talks Chelsea this week. It genuinely feels like confidence and belief is growing throughout this squad of players and coaches. I can feel it and see it, and others have said the same thing. Could this genuinely be a turning point for our season?

“Having toppled Brighton, Fulham and Burnley, three teams the Billionaire Boys Club should ostensibly expect to beat, it suddenly feels like Chelsea have the ability to control their own destiny”, Simms said.

“One theory goes that the majority of managers make little-to-no difference to their clubs. They are simply custodians, caretakers, providing the players with a false sense of genuine purpose until the inertia fades into disarray. Yet Pochettino is showing, as he did with Tottenham, that he has a rare ability to make players better.”

And his final paragraph is equally as important as his first one. Because this is what still keeps some concerns in my own head.

Simms: “Whether Pochettino and Sterling can ensure this improvement continues, that the good times keep rolling, is the next in an extensive series of challenges in the reconstruction of Chelsea Football Club. Everything is better, for now.”

The vibe HAS shifted, and that’s great, but Chelsea, Pochettino, and everyone involved, must make sure it stays that way going forward through a crucial and tough run of fixtures coming up now.