🔗 Share this article

Although The Blues didn't entirely destroy their chances of finishing in the highest eight places of the Bigger Cup group stage, they executed a precise, surgical strike on their own hopes of waltzing straight into the round of 16. Of course, the silver lining is that in the short one-year history of the new and not-necessarily-improved tournament, securing a top-eight finish may not be as crucial as it seems.

The Central Concern: A Monotonous Lack of Consistency

Sadly for Stamford Bridge regulars, the only consistent thing about Enzo Maresca’s side is a reliably erratic lack of consistency, which has been much remarked upon following their defeat in Italy. Since apparently rubber-stamping their credentials with an commanding victory of a European giant, followed by a feisty stalemate with a London rival, the team have been defeated by Leeds, played out a dull draw at Bournemouth and have now lost against a average team from Serie A.

Although critics have been eager to point the finger on a selection policy that seems to see Enzo Maresca rotate his team incessantly, the Chelsea head coach maintains that, injuries and suspensions aside, the nucleus of his first eleven for games against strong opposition is mostly fixed.

“I think tonight, starting team, we had inside the pitch the majority of the team that play against Spurs, they play 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 previous game, it’s different.”

What Comes Next

For a genuine opportunity of escaping the additional knockout round, they will have to be victorious in their final two group games. First up, they welcome this season’s surprise package Pafos, then travel back to the continent to face the Serie A champions, the Neapolitan side.

“Victories in both are required, if not, we try to play the extra round and then go to the following stage,” remarked Maresca, 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

Notable Comment: “You know, it’s somewhat ironic because his biggest dream was me turning pro in golf. That was his biggest dream. 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” – a star striker revealed 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

“Well, no wonder Wolves are in such a poor situation. As any regular reader of this column 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 inevitably going to. Just showing up 10 minutes late? That’s how long it takes fans to get to their seats anyway” – a correspondent.

“I see that one correspondent not only got the previous featured letter, but also a mention in a separate letter. On a night where both Sheffield teams once more surrendered points after leading, I am wondering: could the city be proving that the frequency of representation in your mailbag is inversely related to the value of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – another fan.