This past May, Chelsea finally made sure that the Premier League title returned to London after spending the past four seasons bouncing back and forth between Manchester United and Manchester City. What made the triumph by the Blues most impressive was the fact that Jose Mourinho's men never dropped out of their top-placed spot, starting in round one and concluding in round 38. Additionally, the London giants only lost three out of their 38 games played, winning 26 and settling for a draw in nine.
Their 73 goals scored were not the most out of the 20 sides - that honor belonged to runner up Manchester City, who netted ten more - but their 32 conceded meant that they were the strongest side defensively in league play during the 2014/2015 campaign. Out of their total goals, new signing Diego Costa found the back of the net 20 times, whilst fellow new striker Loic Remy added seven and veteran attacker Didier Drogba netted three.
Midfielder Eden Hazard was the team's second highest goal-scorer with 14 goals, but between Costa, Remy, and Drogba, Blues attackers scored 30 out of the team's total goals, or about 41 per cent. Not a bad total, but surely something Mourinho would want to see improved, especially as they seek to defend their league title and go further in this season's Champions League.
During this summer, out went Drogba and in arrived Radamel Falcao. It was only a few seasons ago that the Colombian international was widely viewed as one of the best attackers in Europe. However, an unfortunate knee injury whilst with Ligue 1 side Monaco has robbed him of his confidence and the former Atletico Madrid and Porto star has seen the goals that made him into one of the continent's most renowned strikers dry up.
A move to England on loan was nothing short of a disaster for the 29-year-old, who only scored four times in 26 league appearances. So, given this, it was no surprise that many Blues fans raised their eyebrows when Mourinho announced that last season's league winners were taking a gamble on a player who has scored just 17 goals in all competitions over the past three seasons. In fact, the last time Falcao netted more than 20 goals in a season was back during the 2012/2013 campaign, where he grabbed 34 goals.
With Costa again struggling with his trouble hamstring, and Falcao as well as Remy yet to hit the ground running, will this trio be able to fire them to yet another league title? The numbers for Costa in his debut season looked promising, despite his injury woes, so if he can stay fit, he should definitely be able to score at least 20.
As for Remy, the French international only scored seven in his first season at Stamford Bridge, but it must be noted that he was used as a back-up. Still, the last time he scored 20 or more goals was during the 2011/2012 campaign with Ligue 1's Marseille. Thankfully, they have Belgian star Hazard to be another source of goals, but Mourinho and Blues fans will hope to see their striker trio to be able to be a reliable contributor as they seek to improve on last season's performance.
