Levi Colwill Insists Chelsea are Ready to Challenge Premier League Champions Arsenal
Levi Colwill has handed a bullish verdict on Chelsea’s prospects, saying the Blues have the raw material to challenge for the Premier League title with reigning champions Arsenal. That was the verdict of the 23-year-old England centre-back after a pre-season training session in Sydney.
Such optimism follows a chastening and thoroughly abysmal campaign in west London. Chelsea finished tenth in the league table and without a trophy, amid serious managerial turbulence and a failure to qualify for continental competition. Colwill’s own year was equally disastrous. Coming off a Club World Cup and Conference League win, he picked up a serious knee injury in pre-season and made only four appearances last season.
Asked if Chelsea can compete with Premier League champions Arsenal, Colwill said:
“I feel like the players we’ve got in our team are ready to do that. With having a manager of this quality now, when it all comes together we’re definitely going to be able to challenge and push for the Premier League.”
The defender confessed he felt powerless to affect proceedings from the sidelines. He nevertheless insisted the forthcoming campaign will feel palpably different, while praising Xabi Alonso’s focus on creative, attacking and free-flowing football.
Xabi Alonso Feels the Good Vibes as He Starts His Chelsea Era
Colwill’s exuberance fits rather neatly with the disposition of his new head coach. Xabi Alonso officially took charge on July 1 and will coach his first match, a friendly, in Sydney on Tuesday against the Western Sydney Wanderers. The 44-year-old arrives having masterminded Bayer Leverkusen’s unbeaten German league and cup double in 2023-24, though his time at Real Madrid lasted only seven months.
The Spaniard has, however, steadfastly refused every invitation to put a definitive benchmark on a successful debut season:
“We want to build a competitive team. We are in that process. We have great quality, great talent. We need to know what it takes to compete in the Premier League, and we want to have a squad with the right balance between quality and mentality. But I think that we are starting the new season with good energy, that’s going to be important.”
Marco Palestra, Geovany Quenda, and Emmanuel Emegha have also been added to the squad, but the headline name in his recruitment drive has been Morgan Rogers, signed from Aston Villa. Antonio Conte’s triumph a decade ago represents the last time Chelsea were crowned English champions, a drought Alonso is now tasked with ending.
The Blues will complete their Australian and Asian tour before returning to England for the start of the Premier League season against Fulham on August 24.
