Chelsea Football Club are World Champions, and they did it by rolling back a performance akin to the Roman Abramovich era. 

I took a flight to New York on Saturday with doubts over whether this young team could deliver in a one-off, big game when a massive trophy is on the line. Those doubts disappeared yesterday. 

Yes, there was fluid, attacking, and often breathtaking Football on display at the MetLife Stadium from Enzo Maresca’s side, but it was the heart and doggedness that caught PSG by surprise. 

Many, if not most people labelled PSG favourites because after all, they have looked unstoppable during the 2024/25 season. Luis Enrique is a serial winner and his side have been blowing teams away all year, which culminated in them winning the UEFA Champions League.

But, as Levi Colwill stated when asked what would be different to when PSG saw off Real Madrid and Inter Milan in the same tournament, ‘We are Chelsea, and we are going to bring something different’ 

Too often PSG are allowed to play their own game on the ball and too often sides sit back and are almost ‘scared’ and accept defeat.

Their recent dismantling of sides have drawn comparisons to Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona, where teams gave up before the whistle was blown. 

Not Chelsea though. Chelsea under Enzo Maresca despite being such a young side, are becoming fearless and are relishing people doubting them.

The current side are very much akin to old Chelsea squads under Roman Abramovich when for example, no one gave them a chance against Bayern Munich in the 2012 Champions League Final. 

The last several months under Enzo Maresca have seen Chelsea amass fifteen wins in twenty matches, with two draws and just three defeats, and it is not by luck. 

Maresca’s message to the squad before the final was to ‘Show PSG we are here to win’ and revealed he knew they had won the game in the first ten minutes. 

This type of mentality and wording would not have been said lightly either, with multiple people ensuring me that it was said in a ‘proper’ tone, aiming to gee up the players even further in the dressing room as they embarked on their mission to prove the doubters wrong. 

Chelsea pressed and counter pressed tirelessly in the first half and took a man-to-man approach and they did not let PSG play Football and utilise their technical players. 

Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez and Reece James dominated PSG’s midfield trio of Vitinha, Joao Neves and Fabian Ruiz. 

Chelsea cut through PSG with multiple line breaking passes and as per the game plan set out by Maresca and revealed after full time by the man himself, found space down the right hand side channel with Malo Gusto overlapping Cole Palmer. 

At the back, Levi Colwill and Trevoh Chalobah marshalled the defence while Marc Cucurella and Pedro Neto, who was playing as a wing back off the ball, consistently dealt with the threat of Desire Doue and the flying Achraf Hakimi. 

In truth, Maresca did a number on Enrique, and although the Football on the ball was spectacular, the desire off it was even better. 

This was a game in which reminded me of ‘The old Chelsea mentality’, the mentality where under Roman Abramovich it was not accepted not to win. 

In Marc Cucurella, Moises Caicedo, Pedro Neto, Enzo Fernandez, Joao Pedro and others, Chelsea now have players that are not only talented, but are also prepared to do the hard yards off the ball. 

And in Enzo Maresca, Chelsea now finally have a head coach who encapsulates the passion and mentality of the club’s history, but also the tactical nouse to balance out the attacking talent with demands off the ball, to ensure the defence is sustainably solid.

Chelsea now have a legitimate blueprint to move forward, both tactically and mentally. Maresca is showing adaptation with tactics which include building up play with different numerical bases and plotting game plans with players playing ‘out of position’ based on the opponent. 

Most importantly, and perhaps unlike under Graham Potter and Mauricio Pochettino, the players are taking to Maresca’s ideas, and they are working. 

Reece James in midfield no longer looks a misfit, Pedro Neto as a left wing back works, Enzo Fernandez as a number eight has turned into an output machine despite fans labelling him as a number six, and Marc Cucurella is playing a multitude of roles, including as a left hand sided eight, centre back and inverting into midfield from his natural left back position.

The first trophy under a new ownership is often the hardest, especially with a squad so young, but that was conquered by winning the UEFA Conference League. 

Despite many mocking it at the time, I draw comparisons to when Jose Mourinho won the League Cup in 2005, claiming his first trophy in English Football. 

That trophy, although on paper not being the biggest, gave Chelsea players at the time a taste of what it meant to win, and similar comparisons could be made with Enzo Maresca and this group, now winning their second trophy in the space of a couple of months. 

It remains to be seen how the directors and ownership group will approach the rest of the transfer window.

Still, one thing is for certain: Chelsea are building something sustainably competitive under Enzo Maresca. 

And right now, it seems the club could not be in a better position financially and sporting wise to add top, statement worthy additions into the side.

Reliable sources suggest Chelsea have made £90m from the Club World Cup, and have already pocketed important Champions League qualification money. 

Owners who truly want to win everything do not rest on making the squad better or thinking the ‘Job is done’ when they hit the first real point of success, and I hope this is the case with the Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly joint ownership. 

What better time than now for a statement signing or two? If so, Chelsea could be legitimate title contenders next season.