🔗 Share this article

While The Blues avoided a total demolition of their hopes of finishing in the top eight of the European competition group stage, they executed a targeted blow on their own hopes of automatically qualifying for the knockout stages. Naturally, the good news is that in the brief history of the recently revamped tournament, securing a top-eight finish may not be as crucial as it seems.

The Central Issue: A Predictable Lack of Consistency

Sadly for Stamford Bridge regulars, the sole predictable element about Enzo Maresca’s side is a monotonously predictable lack of consistency, which has been much remarked upon following their defeat in Italy. After apparently rubber-stamping their quality with an impressive beat-down of a European giant, and then a feisty stalemate with a London rival, Chelsea have been defeated by Leeds, played out a dull draw at Bournemouth and have now been beaten by a mid-table side from Serie A.

While pundits have been quick to lay the blame on a selection policy that appears to see the coach change his lineup incessantly, the manager insists that, injuries and suspensions aside, the core of his starting lineup for games against strong opposition is mostly fixed.

“I think in that game, starting team, we had on the field eight, nine players that play against Spurs, they played against Barcelona, they play against Wolves, Arsenal,” he droned. “There were most of the regulars that are the ones consistently selected for matches of this magnitude. So if you look at the several alterations that we did from the previous game, it’s different.”

The Path Forward

For a genuine opportunity of avoiding the additional knockout round, Chelsea will have to be victorious in their final two group games. First up, they host the unexpected contenders Pafos, then travel back to Italy to face the Italian title holders, Napoli.

“We need to win both, otherwise, we try to play the playoff and then go to the next round,” sniffed the Italian coach, whose next appointment is a game against an Everton team whose recent consistency has taken to them to the surprising position of seventh in the Premier League.

Other Notes

Notable Comment: “It's interesting, it’s actually funny because his biggest dream was me becoming a professional golfer. That was his biggest dream. So when I was 10, he pushed me to take up golf. So I practiced every week from when I was 10 to 13” – Erling Haaland revealed how, had his dad got his way, he could have been on the golf course rather than scoring goals in the Premier League.

Readers' Letters

“Well, no wonder Wolves are in such a poor situation. As any regular reader of this email will know, the only effective pre-match protests involve walking from a public house that the supporters planned to be at anyway, to the stadium 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 see that a reader not only got the previous featured letter, but also a mention in a separate letter. On a night where both clubs from Sheffield once more surrendered points after leading, I am led to ponder: could Sheffield be proving that the regularity of appearances in your letters section is inversely related to the success of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – another fan.