The Manager's Unceasing Rotation Has Chelsea Off Balance.
Although Chelsea avoided a total demolition of their chances of ending up in the top eight of the continental tournament group stage, they performed a precise, surgical strike on their own hopes of strolling directly into the round of 16. Of course, the silver lining is that in the brief history of the recently revamped tournament, achieving a top-eight finish may not be as crucial as it seems.
The Core Concern: A Predictable Lack of Consistency
Sadly for the club's supporters, the only consistent thing about Enzo Maresca’s side is a reliably erratic lack of consistency, which has been widely discussed following their loss in Bergamo. After seemingly confirming their quality with an impressive beat-down of a European giant, followed by a bad-tempered draw with Arsenal, Chelsea have been defeated by a Championship side, played out a snoozy stalemate at the south coast club and have now lost against a mid-table side from Italy's top flight.
Although critics have been eager to point the finger on a selection policy that appears to see Enzo Maresca rotate his team constantly, the manager insists that, knack and naughty step permitting, the nucleus of his starting lineup for big matches is largely set in stone.
“In my view in that game, starting team, we had on the field eight, nine players that featured against Spurs, they played against Barca, they played against Wolves, the Gunners,” he droned. “There were eight, nine players that are the ones playing every time for matches of this magnitude. So if you look at the several alterations that we did compared to previous game, it’s different.”
The Path Forward
For a genuine opportunity of avoiding the Bigger Cup playoff round, Chelsea will have to be victorious in their final two group games. In the first, they welcome the unexpected contenders a Cypriot team, before heading back to the continent to face the Serie A champions, Napoli.
“Victories in both are required, otherwise, we will face the extra round and then go to the next round,” remarked the Italian coach, whose following fixture is a match against an Everton team whose recent consistency has taken to them to the dizzy heights of seventh in the domestic league.
Side Stories
Quote of the Day: “You know, it’s actually funny because his biggest dream was me turning pro in golf. That was his ultimate ambition. So when I was 10, he pushed me to take up golf. So I played golf every week from when I was 10 to 13” – Erling Haaland explained how, if his father had his preference, he could have been on the golf course rather than scoring goals in the Premier League.
Fan Correspondence
“So, no wonder Wolves are in such a poor situation. As any longtime reader of this email will know, the only effective pre-match protests involve walking from a public house that the supporters intended to visit anyway, to the ground that they were always going to. Just showing up 10 minutes late? That’s how long it takes fans to get to their seats anyway” – one reader.
“I note that one correspondent not only got the previous featured letter, but also a name check in a separate letter. On a night where both Sheffield teams again dropped points after leading, I am led to ponder: could Sheffield be proving that the regularity of appearances in your mailbag is inversely related to the success of anything our teams are achieving on the field?” – a different supporter.