Chelsea news: The winners and losers so far in a season of ups and downs

It has been a season of two halves for Chelsea under Enzo Maresca in the 2024/25 campaign which is nearing its conclusion.

The Blues started the season in incredible form with many believing, even if their manager didn't, that they were in a Premier League title race.  

However, he proved all too right when Chelsea drew 0-0 at Goodison Park, which marked the collapse of the Londoners this season.

Sports News Blitz writer and Chelsea fan Alec Hayward takes a look at who have been the winners and losers of the season so far.

Winner: Moises Caicedo - The monster in the middle

Moises Caicedo has arguably been the biggest winner from this season being a juggernaut in the midfield. 

This season Caicedo has been a defensive beast, being in the 100th percentile for recoveries, 98th for tackles won, 97th in duels won and 96th in possession won in the final third.

Comparing this to last season shows the level of growth in his defensive play this season.

His passing has also improved with one of the highest accurate long passes in the premier league as well as the most successful passes.

As many Chelsea fans including myself will say, he has very much started to show why we paid the extra amount to land his signature.

The Ecuador general has been one of the main reasons Chelsea are still in the fight for the top 5.

Loser: Cole Palmer - Finally defrosting?

From being considered one of the best players in the world to barely impacting games, what has happened to Cole Palmer?

A player with 22 goals and assists this season as one of the losers might seem crazy, but since the turn of the year, Cole Palmer has got 2 goals and 2 assists. 

However, this could be seen as just Chelsea's lack of form being shown through a player.

I believe that him playing as a 10 has impacted his influence on the game as it has made it easier for other teams to double up when defending him.

This can also be seen, as he is having to drop deeper to get the ball reducing how much influence in the attack he can have. 

It also looks like he has had a lot of his confidence shot, taking one too many touches or just being too slow when playing the ball.

Overall, this second half especially has caused Palmer to be one of the losers this season and many Chelsea fans will hope he finds form again.

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Winner: Enzo Fernandez - One Enzo helping another Enzo

Enzo Fernandez has been one of the most improved players this season under Maresca and one of the reasons is because of the system.

Unlike Pochettino last season using Fernandez as a double pivot, Maresca has used him as a second 10 when Chelsea are in possession.

Fernandez has some of the highest creative and attacking numbers in Europe this season, having 4 statistics in the 100th percentile and six more in the top 95th plus.

These stats as well as his output and general play have been a massive improvement from what we had seen in the previous 18 months since he joined Chelsea. 

Fernandez has definitely been one of the winners this season.

Loser: Christopher Nkunku - Another player from Germany underperforming in blue

At the start of this season, Chelsea fans were ecstatic to see more of Christopher Nkunku this season after previously being plagued with injuries.

However, this season did not go the way many Chelsea fans would’ve wanted it to go.

Nkunku was used mainly in the UEFA Conference League this season. But when Nicolas Jackson got injured, the Frenchman found himself playing as Chelsea’s first-choice striker in the Premier League.

This spell did not go as many people would’ve expected, having what fans saw as very poor games for a player of his calibre.

This led to a split with the fans and his recent form has had him in discussions about leaving Chelsea.

Winner: Marc Cucurella - From zero to hero at the back

Marc Cucurella first joined Chelsea back in 2022 and was very much a disappointment in his first season and similar at the start of his second season.

However, we did start to see an improvement under Pochettino towards the end of the season when he started to play as an introverted left-back and this saw a vast increase in his performance.

This was then carried on into the Euros and has gone to a different level under Maresca who has kept using him in this inverted position.

One of the main things that has improved is his attacking output, finding himself Chelsea’s top scorer in 2025.

The system of having him invert suits his play style and ability to press players as well as his ability to turn and hold the ball under pressure.

Cucurella has been on an incline in form over the last 12 months and this new role has allowed it to speed up and show what Chelsea thought they were buying from Brighton.

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