🔗 Share this article

Although Chelsea avoided a total demolition of their hopes of ending up in the top eight of the Bigger Cup group stage, they executed a precise, surgical strike on their own chances of strolling directly into the knockout stages. Naturally, the silver lining is that in the brief history of the recently revamped competition, securing a place in the top eight may not be as crucial as it seems.

The Core Problem: A Monotonous Lack of Consistency

Unfortunately for the club's supporters, the sole predictable element about Enzo Maresca’s side is a monotonously predictable lack of consistency, which has been much remarked upon since their defeat in Bergamo. After apparently rubber-stamping their quality with an commanding victory of a European giant, and then a bad-tempered draw with a London rival, Chelsea have been defeated by a Championship side, played out a dull draw at Bournemouth and have now been beaten by a mid-table side from Italy's top flight.

Although critics have been eager to point the finger on a selection policy that seems to see the coach change his lineup constantly, the manager insists that, injuries and suspensions aside, the core of his first eleven for big matches is largely set in stone.

“I think tonight, first XI, we had inside the pitch eight, nine players that featured against Spurs, they played against Barca, they played against Wolverhampton, the Gunners,” he stated. “There were eight, nine players that are the ones consistently selected for matches of this magnitude. So if you see the five changes that we did compared to previous game, it’s a different situation.”

What Comes Next

For a genuine opportunity of escaping the Bigger Cup playoff round, they will have to be victorious in their remaining two matches. In the first, they host the unexpected contenders a Cypriot team, before heading back to Italy to face the Italian title holders, the Neapolitan side.

“We need to win both, otherwise, we will face the playoff and then go to the following stage,” remarked Maresca, whose next appointment is a game against an Everton team whose current form has taken to them to the dizzy heights of the top half in the domestic league.

Other Notes

Quote of the Day: “You know, it’s actually funny because his biggest dream was me becoming a professional golfer. That was his ultimate ambition. So when I was 10, he forced me to take up golf. So I played golf every week from when I was 10 to 13” – Erling Haaland explained how, if his father had his preference, he could have been on the golf course rather than tearing it up in the Premier League.

Fan Correspondence

“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 note that one correspondent not only got the previous letter o’ the day, but also a name check in another reader's letter. On a night where both clubs from Sheffield once more dropped points after leading, I am led to ponder: could Sheffield be proving that the frequency of appearances in your letters section is inversely proportional to the value of anything our teams are achieving on the field?” – another fan.