Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel was enjoying the set-up at Stamford Bridge this time last year, with the Blues making a strong start to the season after the manager was left to focus on matters on the pitch.
The London side took seven points from their opening three games, with Mohamed Salah's penalty for Liverpool the only goal they conceded in their first five. Marina Granovskaia remained on top of transfers, a set-up which Tuchel was clearly fond of, and record buy Romelu Lukaku had made an eye-catching start to life back at Stamford Bridge.
Fast forward 12 months and the situation couldn't be much different. Chelsea are outside the top four with a negative goal difference after six games, while Tuchel has been forced to take a more active role in transfer policy since Todd Boehly's takeover, and as the Blues begin their Champions League campaign in Zagreb they know they'll have to fight to return to the competition next season.
"[It has] made a huge simplicity for me here because it has been only about coaching,” Tuchel said of the transfer approach in September 2021. “No second thoughts about bringing somebody in or letting somebody go.
"I embrace the simplicity. I hope I can continue to live like this on the job. Because it is pure fun, very exciting. [It’s] very pure, the feeling I have right now.”
“I have zero ambition to ruin this atmosphere — not for myself, nor for anybody else,” Tuchel said. “Do we have some ideas [about] how to improve the squad? Yes, we do. But will we fight about it? No.”
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It has been a different story this summer, of course. Granovskaia left Chelsea shortly after Boehly arrived, leaving the new owner taking an active role in transfers along with the manager. Efforts to bring in former Liverpool sporting director Michael Edwards fell short, prompting a late dash for reinforcements.
“It was quite turbulent here, I have to say," Tuchel admitted in early August. "But seeing that we are succeeding in the market, also calmed me down. The strength of Chelsea is calmness from inside and also outside and we need to reach that status again.
At the end of July, Chelsea only had two senior signings wrapped up, with Raheem Sterling joining from Manchester City and Kalidou Koulibaly moving to England after several years with Napoli. Since then, though, things have picked up very quickly.
Defenders Marc Cucurella and Wesley Fofana arrived for a combined outlay of more than £100m, while deadline-day deals were completed for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Denis Zakaria. The Blues also added plenty of talented youngsters, including Carney Chukwuemeka and Cesare Casadei, with their eventual spending passing £250m.
Tuchel's task will be integrating the new arrivals, a task which begins in Croatia as the Blues get their Champions League campaign underway. Aubameyang and Zakaria could both make their debuts against Dinamo Zagreb as Tuchel looks to start with a win.
Chelsea's Champions League title defence ended at the quarter-final stage last season, with Real Madrid securing a dramatic extra-time victory. With Dinamo, AC Milan and Red Bull Salzburg on the menu in the group stages, the former Borussia Dortmund manager will be looking to set his team up for another run at a title they claimed in his first season at the helm.
Based on the league position, though, winning the Champions League could yet prove to be Chelsea's best route back into the competition in 2023-24. That's what happened in 2012, when Roberto di Matteo's side finished five points outside the top four but were crowned European champions.
It's still early in the season, but Tuchel's side have work to do. They're two points behind Manchester United, despite Erik ten Hag's side losing their first two games of the season, and five adrift of league leaders Arsenal.
Both of those sides will be looking to finish in the top four after last season's finishes left them with only Europa League football on the menu. Still, given the condensed group stage schedule this term, the opportunity to rest players for continental games could benefit Ten Hag and Mikel Arteta.
Arsenal are due to get underway at FC Zurich on Thursday, with Man Utd hosting Real Sociedad the same day. The clash comes after United beat Arsenal in the league to end the north London side's 100% record domestically.
However, with both sitting above Chelsea, there are questions to be asked of whether their contrasting transfer approaches will reap benefits. Not that Ten Hag and Arteta have done things identically.
Man Utd's boss has opted to largely stick with players he knows, signing Lisandro Martinez and Antony from former club Ajax while also adding others with Eredivisie experience, hinting at a hands-on approach not too dissimilar to that which Tuchel has been forced into.
Arteta, meanwhile, has long worked with technical director Edu on a complementary transfer strategy. This has brought reunions with Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus this summer, while also allowing the club to offload the likes of new Chelsea frontman Aubameyang.
With several months until the next transfer window opens, Tuchel may be able to benefit from fewer distractions alongside his on-pitch responsibilities. Now it's about whether he can produce the results he'll be hoping for and return Chelsea to the position they were 12 months ago.
