Of the many things Chelsea have proven that money cannot buy over the last couple of seasons, momentum would be somewhere close to top of the list.
Too often, under successive managers, it has been a case of one step forward, at best, followed by two steps back, at least.
This season already, as Mauricio Pochettino tries to shape his raw-diamond-encrusted boulder and drive it uphill, he has found every stretch of favourable going followed by one of steeper incline: an encouraging opening draw with Liverpool succeeded by a dreadful defeat at West Ham, a 3-0 cruise past Luton forgotten when, a week later, Nottingham Forest won at Stamford Bridge.
On Saturday, at last, then, was something to buck the trend, a third victory in as many matches across all competitions in the space of 11 days and, for the first time since March, a second in a row in the league.
True, it was ‘only’ Burnley - Turf Moor a place where the Blues have now won on eight of their nine Premier League visits, drawing the other, and where Vincent Kompany’s side, far from creating the newcomers’ obligatory home fortress, have failed to take a single point from five games.
True, as well, that a 4-1 scoreline suggests a stroll not dissimilar to that against Luton, which was so straightforward that no one had even bothered declaring a new dawn by the time the subsequent Forest loss rendered it false.
The reality here though was something different and surely something more satisfying for Pochettino, the ticking of a box hitherto left blank as his team showed the resilience required to come from behind to win a league match for the first time in a year.
Such statistics can sometimes be misleading and are reliant, of course, on going behind in the first place. It is fair to say, though, that on that front, Chelsea have not been short of opportunity.
The eventually emphatic response to Wilson Odobert’s breakaway opener was led by Raheem Sterling, outstanding in the build-up to three of the goals and scorer of the other.
Pochettino may soon have the novel privilege of choosing his wingers based on who is in form, rather than who is most definitely not
The winger was challenged afterwards by his manager to turn a punchy reply to his latest England snub into a run that forces Gareth Southgate’s hand - something that Chelsea need, too, from a senior player in a squad so susceptible to the inconsistencies of youth.
On the opposite flank, Cole Palmer came alive after the interval, scoring from the spot and setting up Nicolas Jackson’s cake-topper. If - big if - Mykhailo Mudryk’s recent baby steps become a more confident stride, Pochettino may soon have the novel privilege of choosing his wingers based on who is in form, rather than who is most definitely not.
There are similar green shoots elsewhere. Neither Jackson nor Armando Broja look ready to deliver a prolific campaign, but scored in a game each last week and steady, shared contributions would lighten the burden of Chelsea’s most cursed shirt.
Reece James is back in full training and would complete a back four that is, across the other three positions, looking more settled, for all you can never touch enough wood where the defender’s fitness is concerned.
Shorn of a greater sample size, such potential and hypotheticals are all Chelsea fans have to go on during the upcoming fortnight’s void, but having lurched between promise and the pits on an almost weekly basis so far this term, locking into the former mode for half-term seems a preferable state of affairs.
As Arsenal previously exhibited under Mikel Arteta, and Tottenham are now under Ange Postecoglou, in the early days of Project Pochettino, mood matters. That, according to the man himself, goes for his players, too: ”I’m so happy for them to go into the international break with a different feeling to the last months”.
Whether or not a corner truly has been turned will only become clear when club football resumes and a devilish run of fixtures that has been lurking just beyond the horizon suddenly steams into view, with both north London clubs, Manchester City and Newcastle to come in the Blues’ next five Premier League games.
But that that run can, from this side of the break at least, be viewed as a test rather than torture is sign of an uplift in mood.
