Chelsea 2023-24 season preview: Blues haven't done enough yet to suggest improvements are coming under Mauricio Pochettino

There is a sense of anticipation heading into 2023-24 with Pochettino in charge of a young and fairly exciting squad, but that is tempered by a healthy dose of realism. Chelsea fell so far last season that they have a hell of a lot of distance to claw back before they can be considered anything close to challengers to the likes of Manchester City or Arsenal.

Supporters will be keen so see Pochettino quickly establish a clear identity after the disarray under three different head coaches last term, and following the summer's mass exodus. On paper he is the right man for the job, as his reputation for developing young players and galvanising underperforming teams precedes him.

While it will be fascinating to see just how far Pochettino can take this new-look Chelsea, trophies will not even be a consideration to begin with - at least until it becomes clear just what they are capable of. Given the absence of any form of European football, deep runs in the cup competitions will perhaps be expected, but winning them will be another matter entirely.

In terms of the Premier League, a fifth or sixth-placed finish will be the realistic expectation - and given the fierce competition and the ground Chelsea have to make up, even that would be a monumental effort.

That's not to say the team won't be able to achieve more, though. As usual, much will depend on the form of Chelsea's rivals because, as last year demonstrated, there is invariably one or two teams who underperform horribly.

As long as they can avoid being one of those sides themselves (yet again), then the Blues could be in with a chance of a top-four tilt come the latter stages of the season. It will be very, very tough, though, with the likes of Newcastle, Manchester United, Tottenham and Liverpool also likely vying for two places behind Man City and Arsenal.

Chelsea have very recent experience of the worst-case scenario if things go awry. Pochettino is widely expected to raise standards at all levels of the club, but if he should fail then another mid-table finish is not out of the question as the west London club toils through this transitional period.

Although there is still time to do business in this transfer window, there is an air of incompleteness in certain areas of the squad, and while plenty of big-name first-team players have been moved on, Chelsea haven't necessarily added top-level replacements across the board. There is huge pressure on Pochettino to get the very best of the somewhat limited assets at his disposal.

This surely would have been Nkunku's title to lose, but the horrendous timing of the attacker's serious knee injury means he will not feature until December having undergone surgery.

The Frenchman's absence will heap pressure, then, on £106 million ($135m) man Enzo Fernandez to hit the ground running in his first full season at Stamford Bridge. Though he will still be charged with keeping Chelsea ticking over from midfield, expect to see the Argentine unleashed in a more advanced role under his compatriot, perhaps alongside a new more defensive-minded colleague. The goals and assists should follow.

He may well miss a significant chunk of the season, but the odds are still good that ChristopherNkunku will still emerge as Chelsea's key new arrival after he returns to action around the turn of the year.

The Blues are in dire need of both creativity and goals, and when fully fit the Frenchman should provide both in abundance; his return of 126 goal contributions in 172 games for RB Leipzig speaks for itself. Who knows, if Pochettino's men can get themselves into a decent position post-Christmas, the 25-year-old could make the difference in the pursuit of European football.

Despite being a relative unknown, Nicolas Jackson made a big impact in pre-season - but whether he can translate that form to competitive action and the Premier League remains to be seen. In midfield, the capture of Moises Caicedo would be seismic if the Blues can pull it off.

Chelsea have plenty of hopefuls in this department, but only a select few have a realistic chance of being given an opportunity at Stamford Bridge.

Levi Colwill made a name for himself out on loan at Brighton last season and it would be little surprise to see him make his first-team breakthrough at Chelsea from the off, given the injuries to both Benoit Badiashile and Wesley Fofana.

However, it is Andrey Santos who could be the dark horse in the squad. It had been rumoured that the 19-year-old would be shipped out on loan this summer, but such has been the impression he has made in pre-season that Pochettino wants to keep him around.

Should the Blues fail in their pursuit of Caicedo, then don't be surprised to see the Brazilian establish himself in the first team. An all-action midfielder who won't shirk a tackle and has an eye for a pass, he has all the attributes to succeed in English football.

Chelsea have spent wildly over the past 12 months and the majority of their big-money signings have yet to come off. The biggest disappointment, though, is undoubtedly £88.5m ($112.6m) man Mykhailo Mudryk.

In truth, it was always going to be a challenge for the winger to swiftly get to grips with the rigours of the English game, especially given he hadn't played a competitive match for more than a month before his January switch from Shakhtar Donetsk.

Mudryk looked bereft of confidence in his first few months in a Chelsea shirt - especially in front of goal - and a shadow of the man the Chelsea hierarchy were convinced to spend such a significant sum on.

However, after a period of adaptation and a full pre-season under his belt, there are no excuses for the club's new No.10: it's time to justify that eye-watering price tag.

If the past month or so under Pochettino is anything to go by, the early signs are positive. The Ukrainian has looked like something close to his flying best, and opened his account with a stunning goal against Brighton on the club's U.S. tour.

As touched upon, there is huge pressure on MauricioPochettino's shoulders to raise standards across the board. On his immediate to-do list will be forging an identity; restoring togetherness; getting Chelsea scoring goal; and getting the best out of young players

Of course, a lot of work will have gone into all of that in pre-season, and any improvement in those areas will inevitably lead to better performances on the pitch. This is certainly not a short-term project, though, and Chelsea's decision-makers will need to show more patience than they did with Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter last season.

If Pochettino is backed in the remaining weeks of the transfer window and is given the time to develop an exciting, attacking identity with young, dynamic players at its core, then the Blues will be a force to contend with once again.

Chelsea certainly do not enter the new campaign as the finished article, and there are some glaring holes that need to be addressed as soon as possible.

Central midfield is one such position, and the desperation to provide Enzo with a top-level partner could lead the club to spend £111m ($141m) on Brighton dynamo Caicedo after seeing off dramatic competition from Liverpool. It remains to be seen whether they will pursue any further additions there, with Tyler Adams and Romeo Lavia also coming under consideration.

As was the case a year ago, centre-forward is the other department where Chelsea are in desperate need of reinforcement, and that has been brought into even sharper focus by Nkunku's injury - a man who arguably would have been their main source of goals.

Jackson has arrived from Villarreal and made a strong start in non-competitive action, but otherwise the Blues are very thin on the ground, with Armando Broja only recently returning from a long-term injury himself. That has led to reports that the London club will intensify its pursuit of Dusan Vlahovic, with Juventus demanding Romelu Lukaku and a significant fee in return for the 23-year-old.

Neymar is another forward who could come into the equation. He has told Paris Saint-Germain he wants to leave the club, and Chelsea have supposedly never broken contact with him, but Pochettino is not keen on a reunion at Stamford Bridge.

Much will depend on Chelsea's continued pursuit of Caicedo in what remains of the transfer window. The Blues are thin in the centre of the park, and the Ecuadorian would be a transformative presence in terms of his quality, while also allowing Enzo to play further forward in his natural box-to-box role.

Elsewhere, it seems Kepa Arrizabalaga will keep his place as No.1 goalkeeper presuming he is not allowed to leave and join Bayern Munich, while Colwill will have done enough to justify a starting place alongside Thiago Silva at centre-back.

Chelsea are limited up top, too, so it seems most likely that somewhat unknown quantity Jackson will lead the line.

4-2-3-1: Kepa Arrizabalaga; Reece James, Thiago Silva, Levi Colwill, Ben Chilwell; Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo; Noni Madueke, Christopher Nkunku (when fit), Mykhailo Mudryk; Nicolas Jackson

It's not what any Chelsea supporter will want to hear, but it's the harsh truth on the eve of the 2023-24 campaign: there's no guarantee things will get better for the Blues. Many of the problems that hampered Tuchel, Potter and Frank Lampard still persist on the eve of the new season, and Pochettino will really have to prove his worth to overcome them.

By his own admission, the infamously bloated squad the new head coach inherited is still too big - despite a mass clear-out of unwanted players. Speaking recently, the Argentine was clearly concerned about the size of the group, saying: “We need to define the squad. We are 29, 30 players here and it’s massive. It’s difficult because in every game maybe three, four, five players cannot play, and that makes the mood difficult.

“What we cannot do is have a massive squad with players in America not involved, because it’s going to create a mess. Maybe less is more and more is less."

Injuries are becoming a hindrance again, too. Chelsea dearly missed the likes of Reece James, Ben Chilwell, N'Golo Kante, Mason Mount, Fofana and Thiago Silva for lengthy periods at different stages of last season. Before the new campaign has even begun, they find themselves without Nkunku and Fofana due to respective serious knee injuries - a huge blow to their hopes without truly knowing what their aspirations are.

While it could be remedied in the final weeks of the transfer window, the aforementioned lack of an out-and-out No.9 has been a long-term problem, with the lack of goals set to be exacerbated by Nkunku's absence.

Finally, the relative inexperience in the squad means Pochettino's nous as a coach and a man-manager will be tested to the extreme.

However, it is not all doom and gloom. Untimely injuries aside, there is still an air of positivity surrounding Chelsea as they begin what is truly a new era, with Pochettino the ideal man to oversee the process. It will be fascinating to see what he is able to get out of what is a youthful and talented but limited group of players, but there is no reason why he will not be able to instil his high-intensity, attacking philosophy.

Indeed, he is aiming high: "You cannot win if you do not build. Our job is to provide the team with stability [during] ups and downs, to behave in the same way. It is a process that needs time, but in football you can't ask for time. We know we need to deliver now. My message to everyone here is: 'We are at Chelsea and we need to win. Today, not tomorrow'."

Though new additions could tilt the balance, a top-six finish is the most realistic outcome for this group if the head coach is able to extract something close to their best, perhaps supplemented by runs deep into the FA and Carabao cups.

He will rely upon the likes of Mudryk, Noni Madueke and - later in the season - Nkunku for moments of attacking inspiration to get them there, while James and Thiago will be the figureheads in defence.