Having made such a promising start to the season, things are starting to take an ugly turn for Chelsea, especially with how the club is being run.
The 3-1 defeat to Manchester City pretty much summed up the mentality of most of the squad’s players.
The game was there for the taking, especially with Guardiola’s side not being at the best, but the way the players caved in the second half was unacceptable.
Sanchez A Liability In Goal
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One reason Chelsea’s form has been patchy this season is that the Spaniard has been a liability in goal.
His horrendous mistake, which allowed Erling Haaland to make it 2-1, proves he cannot be a first-choice keeper at a top-four side.
It’s baffling how Maresca still picks him as his first-choice keeper when three other keepers are in the squad.
“We trust Robert for sure but the first one that is completely aware he is making mistakes in this moment is Robert,”
Maresca: The Standard
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Filip Jorgensen, Chelsea’s first-choice keeper in the Conference League, has only made two Premier League appearances, the last of which was the 2-0 defeat at Ipswich.
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Marcus Bettinelli, the third-choice keeper, hasn’t even had a chance to show whether he can be a Premier League Goalkeeper.
Why not give him that chance?
Lack Of Leaders
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Reece James, the club captain, has been a Cobham graduate since the age of six and is supposed to be one of the best Right-Backs in the world.
Yet his forward play, which he is usually pretty good at, was found wanting at the Etihad.
What’s more damning is the fact that Gary Neville has stated that Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has had question marks about his defending, is a better right-back than James.
“James is fantastic on the ball. He isn’t quite Alexander-Arnold but he isn’t far away in terms of his delivery. But he didn’t bring anything to that game. I know he is a right-back but he has to do more, he didn’t bright anything to that game.”“Reece, they got down your side the whole first half. And by the way, on top of that, you didn’t go forward to support [Noni] Madueke at all and put wicked crosses in. Imagine him putting in crosses into [Abdukodir] Khusanov, that back post with [Matheus] Nunes.”
Neville: Liverpool.com
As the Captain of Chelsea Football Club, it’s your job to lead from the front by elevating your game to another level and setting the tone for everyone else.
Not once did I see him have a dig at Levi Colwill or Sanchez after their errors in all three goals.
Lack Of Ambition And Experience
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The most frustrating aspect is the hierarchy’s lack of ambition. If they have told Maresca that the Champions League is not a necessary target, they have picked the wrong club.
It is embarrassing that the Blues have gone two successive seasons without playing in Europe’s premier club competition.
This was one of the significant reasons Mauricio Pochettino fell out with the Sporting Directors at the end of last season.
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He had also questioned Paul Winstanley and Lawrence Stewart for not recruiting more experienced players into the squad.
According to Transfermarkt.com, the Blues are fourth-bottom on the list of squads with the most experience in the Premier League.
This will not get you very far regarding Champions League football, let alone a Title race.
This shows that the owners are focussing more on pure profit than success on the pitch, which is what the fans are crying out for.
They forget that a good way of making a profit is by getting success on the pitch and then using that income to sell academy players who aren’t good enough. Not the other way around.
If Chelsea Football Club wants to become a successful profit-making business, things need to be improved on the pitch and on it.
This can only be done via an elite group of players, a manager, a sporting director (only one), and, more importantly, successful ownership.
For more information on Chelsea Football Club, visit World In Sport.
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