How did Chelsea do this season? 2021/22 FPL review
With the Premier League season over, it’s time to assess each of the 20 teams one-by-one. So here is Chelsea’s FPL review of 2021/22.
A standard season for Chelsea included a ‘best of the rest’ league effort and two cup final defeats. Less standard was the off-field situation with Roman Abramovich’s assets being frozen. Although a sale looks likes eventually going through, there was an interesting period where business couldn’t take place – even for the smallest day-to-day details.
Thomas Tuchel remained strong throughout all this, having begun the season with eight wins from the first ten matches. Any serious attempt at pushing Man City and Liverpool soon disappeared, winning just four times between Gameweeks 11 and 23.
Big wins of 7-0 and 6-0 brought joy to owners of Mason Mount and Chelsea wing-backs, although the destruction of Norwich was infamous for Kai Havertz owners and captainers. A midfielder playing up front against the poor Canaries, he somehow ended up as the only starter to blank.
FPL review
Chelsea’s defence began the season as essential assets to have. The first 12 outings brought eight clean sheets and 20 goal involvements from their backline. Overall, they’ve netted 22 times – twice the amount of the next best.
Furthermore, when added to 24 assists, the defence’s 46 attacking returns also come out on top. Even Liverpool, with the duo of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson, can’t overcome that.
Best FPL asset
Coming first for all five metrics above, it has to be Mason Mount. Additionally, he registered six double-digit hauls that peaked with a stunning 24 points against Norwich in Gameweek 9. Life as a Mount owner isn’t perfect though – in Chelsea’s squad on 35 occasions, eight of these came without a start.
An honourable mention goes to Reece James. He was restricted to 1,863 minutes – less than 21 full matches – yet returned five goals and nine assists. Extend this to 38 games, he would almost certainly have exceeded 200 points. The FPL community was constantly in love with the potential of James, given the early-season sneak peek. But, between Gameweeks 18 and 36, James only scored over two points on one occasion.
Biggest FPL disappointment
The serious injury to Ben Chilwell was disappointing, as his six consecutive starts averaged nine points per match. Three goals, an assist and four clean sheets. However, that setback wasn’t his fault.
Romelu Lukaku has been the true letdown. Signed for £95m, only five goals arrived until a small flurry during the final trio of matches. Following Gameweek 8, the Belgian started just nine more times.
Looking ahead to next season
We’ve gotten this far without discussing Antonio Rudiger, who spent most of the season in over two million squads. He was often the reliable starter when selecting other defenders was like a roulette. The centre-back’s contract is expiring and he looks set to join Real Madrid. There could also be goodbyes for Andreas Christensen, Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso.
So Tuchel’s summer priority is to reconstruct a new defence. FPL managers will hope Chilwell is priced generously, with questions over whether Havertz will be reclassified as a forward.
Check out our other season reviews, as well as regular summer round-ups of FPL news and gossip.
