And so we come to the final lap of the Barclay's Premier League, edition 2012/2013.
What started as a hopeful season of rebuilding (new young flair players like Hazard, Oscar, Marin and young, progressive manager in RDM) briefly turned into an over-performing promise of glory when we got off to an explosive start and played with the sort of swagger that oozed class. Heck, at one point near the beginning, even Torres was getting in amongst the goals and proving his perennial "class-is-permanent-he-just-needs-a-bit-more-time" fans (like yours truly) right.
But when the wheels come off, they do so spectacularly. A couple of bad results is all it took for the Chelsea bandwagon to fall off. Before you could finish saying Roman Abramovich, newly crowned Champions League winning manager and fan's favourite RDM was unceremoniously booted. We then sunk to lower depths with the appointment of "interim manager" Rafa "Fat Spanish Waiter" Benitez ("FSW"), whom the fans never really took to (no doubt for his links, affiliations and comments made about Chelsea as Liverpool manager).
Ever since FSW took ever, the club has been in a limbo. Capable of putting together momentary moments of brilliance (the 8-0 humbling of Aston Villa and flashes of heroics in the Cup competitions), the team was also prone to erratic and unexplainable bad patches that was horrendous and shocking.
And so, with 4 games left, we find ourselves neck-deep in a tussle with Arsenal and Spurs for the last 2 slots left for Champions League qualification (with United having wrapped up top spot and City most likely secured with 2nd place). From a fixture point of view, both the Gunners and Spurs look to have an easier run-in to the close of the season. This is compounded further by us still being in the running for the Europa League (after having secured a 2-1 win against Basel on Thursday) which inevitably stretches the endurance and stamina of the players further.
There's no rest for us now, and FSW has the monumental task of keeping our fight for top 4 alive whilst refreshing the squad just enough to mount a realistic attempt to snag the Europa League.
If we manage to pull it off (top 4 and Europa League), it would at least represent a consolation of sorts for an otherwise under-performing and erratic season. If we don't achieve either objective, or worse, neither of them, then one would suspect many heads would roll.
Which leaves the fans with quite the conundrum. On one hand, a massive summer clear-out and starting afresh would be good. We wipe the slate clean and rebuild for next season (and the next and the next). On the other hand, there are many gems in the current mixed bag that may become collateral damage should we end up with nothing this season. The likes of Hazard, Mata, Luiz may be tempted to seek greener pastures if there is no Champions League football next season. And that is why it would also be good if we could snag top 4 and win the Europa League as well.
Whichever the way the wind blows, one thing's for certain is that winds of change would be blowing in strongly come next season. But that's still more than a month away. For now, every game is a Cup final as we cheer on the boys in Blue to muster that last ounce of strength or 2nd wind for the final lap of the season.
Stay glued to your seats then.
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