Chelsea FC 2014/2015 Campaign: 2 down, 36 to go!

The Barclay's Premier League may have only just started, but Chelsea are already being tipped as the top favorites to lift the trophy. The Blues have started their 2014/15 campaign in blistering form making their intentions very clear. Jose Mourinho's men have taken maximum points from all their matches so far with stellar performances both away and at the Bridge . The Portuguese trainer will be hoping to put the woes of a rare trophy-less season behind him this time around, and show why he has been considered one of the best managers in club football in modern times.

The 2013/2014 season was largely a 3-horse race that saw Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea battling it out for glory. The top of the table rotated between the 3 teams and so close was the difference between them that the title had to be decided on the last day of the season. Chelsea was out of the race by the end of the penultimate game of their campaign and had to settle for 3rd best in a season that Jose Mourinho had earlier branded his team "the small horse." Manchester City ran out victors in the end, finishing the season with 2 points ahead of Liverpool while Chelsea ended with 4 points adrift.

Regardless of Chelsea's finishing position at the end of the 2013/2014 season, Jose Mourinho applauded the efforts of his team, stressing that the team lacked, from the start, the final push to get them across the finish line and that finishing in 3rd place and reaching the semi finals of the Champions League can be considered as a successful campaign. He further stressed that the team he had inherited was a relatively young side and a work in progress, and that improvements will have to be made in the summer.

Chelsea's inability to capture the title last season can be attributed to a series of poor results (especially at home) to teams in the bottom half of the table, and lackluster displays from its front line. The Blues went an entire season without an on-form striker. And with such attacking deficiencies and a vacuum in the central midfield created by the departure of Frank Lampard, Chelsea's all-time highest goal scoring legend, reinforcements had to be made in the transfer market so as to keep Chelsea's ambition to win their 5th league title alive.

It did not take too long for Chelsea to get their summer shopping underway. With Chelsea strikers being anything but clinical in the last campaign, the attack stood tallest in the priority areas in need of reinforcements. Mourinho had made no secret of who he wanted to spearhead his attack in the new season: It was always going to be the Brasil-born Spanish international, Diego Costa, who Chelsea were unable to lure to the Bridge in the January window.

Rumours of Diego Costa joining the team he helped knock out of the Champions League only months earlier were finally put to rest with his arrival at Stamford bridge just days after the 2014 FIFA world cup. In the last 2 seasons, the €40million new signing have made a name for himself in the Spainish league establishing himself as one of the finest finishers in the world. Renowned for his physicality, and ability to put defenses under pressure, his exploits in the La Liga helped Atletico Madrid lift their first league title since 1996 ahead of city rivals Real Madrid and the Catalanian giants, Barcelona.

Widely considered the missing link in Jose Mourinho's midfield jigsaw, Cesc Fabregas came to Chelsea at a point where his presence in the midfield, following the departure of Frank Lampard, was much needed. Famous for his long range and wide variety of passing, and his quick thinking and ability to link midfield to attack, Fabregas' arrival at the Bridge presents a whole new complexion to Mourinho's side and further cements their claim as top title contenders. The Spanish international and former Arsenal skipper will be hoping to capture his first Barclay's Premier League title with Chelsea after failing to do so with Arsenal on 8 tries.

Filipe Luis makes up the last of the 3 key signings brought in in the summer. A naturally talented left-back, Luis has come in to replace one of the longest serving members of Abramovic's Chelsea era, Ashley Cole, who has just moved to Roma. Although, Chelsea still looked solid in defense even after the departure of Cole (as Caesar Azpilicueta kept the veteran out of the team throughout last season), in addition to strengthening an already solid defense, Filipe Luis' inclusion now affords the luxury of rotation at the back. Having more options in the back will go a long way in ensuring that Chelsea compete at a high level in every competition this season.

Chelsea and newly promoted Burnley were the last 2 teams to get their 2014/15 premier league campaigns going. The Monday night game at the Turf Moor had all the ingredients for a good season-opener with two teams, desperate to prove a point, locking horns on the night. Burnley were trying upset their visitors for the first time in 41 years in the league and eager to prove that their promotion to England's top tier was everything but a fluke. Chelsea, on the other hand, were looking to get their season up and running and state their claim as favorites to the title by showcasing their class and potency up front with the likes of Hazard, Oscar, Willian, Schurrle and Diego Costa.

The game saw arguably the best performance of the season, recording the highest scoreline by any team on the opening weekend. Chelsea won the game with a scoreline that clearly reflected the efforts of both teams on the night. First half goals from Diego Costa, Andre Schurrle and Branislav Ivanovic sealed an emphatic victory for the Blues after having gone down earlier in the game from a goal conceded in the 14th minute.

The major talking points of the game, however, was the exclusion of Petr Cech from the starting 11 for the first time in a decade in a league game he was fit to start in. Thibaut Courtois, the returnee from Atletico Madrid where he had been on loan for the last 3 seasons, was named as first choice on the night.

Chelsea welcomed newly promoted Leicester City to Stamford Bridge for their first home game of the 2014/15 campaign. Leicester City promised to be a much tougher opposition for Chelsea than their counterpart, Burnley, and the Championship winners lived up to the billing as they held their hosts to a goalless first half marked by very few scoring opportunities.

The deadlock was, eventually, broken in the second half by Chelsea's new-man, Diego Costa, as he calmly brought down a deflected Ivanovic pass in Leicester City's box before calmly tucking in the ball under the arms of the onrushing goalkeeper. Eden Hazard doubled the Blue's advantage later on in the game, recording his first goal of the 2014/15 campaign.

Leicester gave good account of themselves, threatening the Chelsea back line on a few times during the match. Thibaut Courtois was called to action on a couple of occasions in the game, making brilliant saves and reinforcing his claim to the Chelsea no.1 shirt.

Chelsea have made a positive start to their season with 2 victories out of 2 so far. Though the league may have only just begun with 36 games still to go, they are beginning to look like the top title contenders pundits have branded them.

Although it may be argued that both victories have been recorded against newly promoted teams that look very likely to be heading back down to the Championship at the season end and that the Blues have not truly been tested yet, the fact still remains that Chelsea did not lose out on the 2013/14 campaign by their results against the teams on the top half of the league table but, rather, on the results from teams on the bottom half. Chelsea had a double on Manchester City, Liverpool, and Manchester United in last season. In fact, among the top 7 teams in the season, only Arsenal managed to nick a point off the Blues.

Looking at Chelsea's first 2 games of the season so far, and how they have lined up to tackle the season (reinforcements in key areas of the team), one can see that the Blues are not prepared to make the same mistakes they made in their last campaign. In fact, as it stands at the moment, Chelsea looks poised to grab as many points from teams in the bottom half of the league as from those on the top half. And with a misfiring attack that was the bane of their last campaign already looking like a thing of the past, it will be a daunting task for any team to stop Mourinho's men this time around.