Chelsea’s loss to Manchester Metropolis on Saturday was most likely to be anticipated, however that doesn’t make it any much less irritating.
Their win over Wolves on Monday night time proved to be the exception to the rule of their poor run since Christmas, and the Metropolis recreation noticed them hunch again to the worst features we’ve seen since then.
Listless, lifeless, missing in power or perception, with out trusted gamers to come back on and alter the sport – not that the supervisor would use them earlier than the eightieth minute, in fact.
After such a robust begin to the season, this group are beginning to seem like the group of final 12 months, or the 12 months earlier than. Making the Champions League locations has gone from a positive factor to an actual battle.
Taking a look at betting websites like https://speltips.se/bettingsidor, it turns into clear that the bookies are beginning to really feel the identical approach that we’re. Even by means of the primary few video games of this hunch, our odds for the highest 4 had been very slim. It was only a blip – and the groups round us had been sure to slide too sooner or later.
However not it’s greater than a month of poor performances, and it’s a run which exhibits no signal of ending. In the meantime Bournemouth and Newcastle proceed to look good, Arsenal maintain choosing up factors, and we’ve simply given Metropolis a giant enhance of their makes an attempt to get again into the dialog… the competitors seems to be hotter than ever whereas we’ve run out of petrol with months nonetheless to play.
There are some things Enzo Maresca can do to alter issues in fact, however he appears as frozen in his pondering between video games as he does when he stands on the sideline and watches a superb outcome drift away from him as he did on Saturday.
His philosophy doesn’t change. Irrespective of what number of errors Robert Sanchez makes, regardless of what number of probabilities Nicolas Jackson misses, regardless of how knackered the midfield seems to be or how carefully marked Cole Palmer is, Maresca sticks with the method.
There are winnable video games arising, in fact. There’s at all times the sense we might click on again into gear and begin taking part in like we had been within the first few months of the season. Then we actually would cruise to a formidable closing place.
However simply as probably is a continuation of the slide as morale continues to lower. What a time to face our outdated good friend Graham Potter, now managing West Ham…