🔗 Share this article

While The London club didn't entirely destroy their prospects of finishing in the top eight of the European competition group stage, they performed a precise, surgical strike on their own hopes of waltzing straight into the knockout stages. Naturally, the good news is that in the short one-year history of the recently revamped tournament, achieving a place in the top eight may not be as crucial as it seems.

The Core Problem: A Predictable Inconsistency

Sadly for Stamford Bridge regulars, the only consistent thing about Enzo Maresca’s side is a monotonously predictable lack of consistency, which has been widely discussed following their loss in Bergamo. Since apparently rubber-stamping their credentials with an commanding victory of Barcelona, followed by a feisty stalemate with Arsenal, the team have been defeated by Leeds, played out a snoozy stalemate at Bournemouth and have now been beaten by a average team from Italy's top flight.

Although pundits have been eager to point the finger on a team selection approach that appears to see Enzo Maresca change his lineup constantly, the Chelsea head coach maintains that, injuries and suspensions aside, the core of his starting lineup for games against strong opposition is largely set in stone.

“In my view 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 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 from the Bournemouth game, it’s a different situation.”

What Comes Next

For a genuine opportunity of escaping the Bigger Cup playoff round, they will have to win their final two group games. In the first, they host the unexpected contenders a Cypriot team, then travel back to Italy to face the Italian title holders, the Neapolitan side.

“We need to win both, if not, we try to play the extra round and then progress to the following stage,” sniffed the Italian coach, whose next appointment is a game against an Everton team whose current form has taken to them to the surprising position of seventh in the domestic league.

Side Stories

Notable Comment: “It's interesting, it’s somewhat ironic 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 practiced every week from when I was 10 to 13” – a star striker revealed how, had his dad got his way, he could have been on the golf course rather than tearing it up 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 good pre-match protests involve marching from a pub that the supporters intended to visit anyway, to the stadium that they were inevitably going to. Just arriving 10 minutes late? That’s how long it takes fans to get to their seats anyway” – one reader.

“I note that a reader not only got Tuesday’s featured letter, but also a mention in a separate letter. On a night where both clubs from Sheffield once more dropped points after leading, I am wondering: could Sheffield be proving that the regularity of appearances in your mailbag is inversely related to the value of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – another fan.