By Frank Dalleres
Until last season, a trip to Wembley was something of an annual routine for Chelsea. For eight years in a row they made the short journey to north west London, mostly for domestic cup finals.
Since 2004-05, the start of Jose Mourinho’s first spell as manager, Chelsea have played at Wembley at least once every season – bar 2013-14 and last year.
In addition, during that time they played 11 European and international club finals. Cups, it is fair to say, have been a speciality for the Blues.
That all fell by the wayside in the last campaign, as they suffered third-round defeats in both the FA Cup and EFL Cup – their worst performance in domestic cups since 1988-89.
It didn’t help that they were drawn away at Manchester City in both competitions, with predictable consequences, but it was also symptomatic of a season of disarray following the takeover by Todd Boehly’s consortium and enormous staff upheaval.
This season Chelsea have a chance to repair their cup pedigree, and it has perhaps never been more important that they do so.
They face Middlesbrough, the lowest-ranked team left in the competition, in a Carabao Cup semi-final first leg on Tuesday at Stamford Bridge.
It comes hot on the heels of Saturday’s 4-0 victory over Preston in the FA Cup third round, their biggest win yet under Mauricio Pochettino’s management.
The former Tottenham Hotspur boss is acutely aware that cup runs might represent Chelsea’s best hope of qualifying for Europe next season, given that they currently languish in 10th place in the Premier League.
“The Carabao Cup and the FA Cup are competitions we need to try to go far. We need to build our run step-by-step. It’s really important for us, because we are not in Europe,” he said.
“In the Premier League, we are in a position that we need to grow and improve a lot if we want to be in Europe next season. Through the FA Cup or Carabao Cup we can achieve that.
“It’s really important because we had three competitions at the beginning [of the season] and we’re still in them.”
Success in the cups can bring multiple benefits, not least relieving some of the pressure on Pochettino’s position that has built up this term and boosting confidence among a young squad.
For a club whose finances are under scrutiny following Boehly’s lavish spending, it can also enhance the bottom line.
While winning the FA Cup is worth just £4m and the Carabao Cup less than £200,000, reaching even Uefa’s lesser European club competitions can bank clubs in the region £20m.
Chelsea can’t afford to be snooty about such sums, nor the cups themselves.
