Where it’s all gone wrong for Chelsea from Cole Palmer’s slump in form to club legends lashing out at Enzo Maresca
CHELSEA’S title credentials were the talk of the town two months ago.
A strong run from late October to mid-December saw Enzo Maresca’s men go unbeaten in eight league matches, picking up six wins along the way.
But since then, Chelsea have won just two of their last nine.
It’s seen them go from joining Liverpool at the top of the table to being 17 points off first place.
But what exactly has gone wrong at Stamford Bridge?
Here, SunSport’s Anthony Chapman looks at the main issues bugging the Blues…
PALMER SLUMP
LAST season’s Young Player of the Year should arguably have won the top prize.
He helped himself to an incredible 22 goals and 11 assists in 34 league outings.
And Palmer’s freedom to drift from the right as team-mates ran their legs off played a huge part in his numbers.
His form this season has still been good, with 14 goals and six assists so far.
But Palmer has trailed off big time in the last 11 games, coinciding with Chelsea’s barren run.
He has just three goals in that time, along with ZERO assists.
And Palmer’s role as the Blues’ central No10 looks to be stifling his creativity rather than exposing it.
As Chelsea’s star man and playmaker, he now finds himself being closed down by opponents from all angles of the field.
Lining up through the centre is making things easier for defenders and midfielders, who are not afraid to double up as other teammates cover gaps, to limit space in and around channels.
Chelsea may now have to think about setting him up on the right again, which would give Palmer more time to act while also having to deal with less opponents.
But that would require some flexibility on Maresca’s part, which will be explored later on.
NO STRIKER
FORGET Chelsea not signing a striker in January – this problem dates back to last summer’s transfer window.
The Blues were crying out for a focal point despite a decent debut season from Nicolas Jackson.
He bagged 14 goals and five assists leading the line under Pochettino.
Yet his preference to drift wide and cut in showed that Jackson was equally capable of playing on the wing.
That opened the door for Chelsea to sign a proper scorer like Victor Osimhen and Viktor Gyokeres.
Instead, the hierarchy decided to continue with Jackson as striker – while making him the undisputed No1 to boot.
That saw just kid Marc Guiu join, while two new wingers in Jadon Sancho and Pedro Neto were also added.
Fast forward six months and Jackson has just nine league goals.
There has been nobody to challenge him all season.
And now that he and Guiu are both injured, Chelsea do not have a single ‘recognised’ striker in their squad.
January marked the opportunity for the owners to right the wrongs of last summer, even with just a loan signing.
Any attempt or effort would have been welcomed by fans, even if that player turned out to be another Gonzalo Higuain or Alexandre Pato.
But more negligence in the attacking departments means Chelsea look even less likely to hit the target in each passing match.
RIGID SYSTEM
SOME Chelsea fans still have sleepless nights remembering the days of Maurizio Sarri.
But for all his faults, the stubborn, chain-smoking Italian managed a third-place finish while also winning the Europa League.
Maresca is just like his compatriot in that he refuses to shake things up from his chosen system and style of play.
Yet he will need a miracle if he is to achieve a similar league finish while also bagging a European trophy in the process.
Maresca has shown he has no intention of moving away from his 4-2-3-1 shape, which most often sees a full-back drift into midfield.
At first the system worked quite well as it helped Chelsea build up with efficiency.
But just like Sarri’s 4-3-3 was eventually found out, it feels like teams have finally figured exactly how to stop Maresca’s men from playing.
Now it’s Palmer, and not Jorginho, who is the focal point for dictating the tempo.
And, as explained earlier, he is now being shunted out of the game and needs to be moved if he is to revitalise his season.
Maresca also clearly likes to stick with his preferred group of players, with under-performers like Enzo Fernandez and Noni Madueke regularly commanding starting spots.
Joao Felix was one of Chelsea’s most impressive forwards despite being limited mainly to the Conference League.
But a lack of chances saw him shipped off to AC Milan on loan, where Felix has already cemented a place in their starting XI.
Renato Veiga was another newly-signed talent who pushed for a winter exit after being left on the bench.
He is now starring in his preferred position of centre-back for Juventus, with manager Thiago Motta hailing the Portugal international as a signing who has immediately revolutionised their style of play.
Elsewhere, Christopher Nkunku did not get his move away despite interest from Bayern Munich and Manchester United.
He has now been thrown in as a striker following injuries to Jackson and Guiu.
But with the Frenchman’s mind clearly elsewhere ahead of a likely summer exit, he has unsurprisingly failed to make any kind of impact in his last few appearances.
And unless Maresca can think outside the box, Chelsea are likely to continue dropping down the table as opponents block them out with ease.
The Italian has form for this kind of slump. Last season, despite Leicester being promoted, they were far worse in the second half of the campaign.
History is repeating itself at Chelsea, with a win rate of just 30% since Christmas.
GOALIE WOE
SIGNING Brighton’s third-choice goalkeeper was always going to be controversial.
But Maresca’s insistence on sticking with Robert Sanchez until very recently has played a big role in Chelsea’s poor form.
The Spaniard has kept just four clean sheets in 21 outings this term, conceding 27 goals in the process.
He’s also made a massive five errors leading to goals.
And at the age of 27, Sanchez is not going to get any better – despite those inside Chelsea reportedly believing he eventually will.
Pochettino quickly saw Sanchez was not reliable and instead plumped for Djordje Petrovic.
The Serb was an immediate upgrade yet was bizarrely loaned out to Strasbourg last summer after Maresca sneered at his apparent lack of quality on the ball.
Sanchez has certainly not shown he is an upgrade in that department either.
His pass accuracy is just 69.8 per cent, with Sanchez also showing a clear tendency to hoof the ball up field once Chelsea’s defenders have been pressed back into their own box.
Maresca appears to be finally be seeing sense after starting Filip Jorgensen in Chelsea’s last two league games.
However, the Dane has shipped four goals in that time – including three in the last defeat by Brighton.
Jorgensen must now be given the chance to start for the remainder of the season to see if he is capable of being a long-term No1.
But as long as Chelsea continue to wobble between the sticks, they will never find the defensive stability that fans crave.
MARESC IS HISTORY
ENZO MARESCA is struggling again in the second half of the season – as he did at Leicester last term, despite their promotion
LEICESTER 2023-24 (All comps)
Before Christmas – Games 25 Wins 21 Win rate 84%
After Christmas – Games 27 Wins 15 Win rate 56%
CHELSEA 2024-25 (All comps so far)
Before Christmas – Games 27 Wins 18 Win rate 67%
After Christmas – Games 10, Wins 3 Win rate 30%
TOTAL (All comps)
Before Christmas – Games 52 Wins 39 Win rate 75%
After Christmas – Games 37 Wins 18 Win rate 49%
LEGEND BACKLASH
IT’S one thing for supporters to start shouting the odds over the way their club is being run.
But when club legends are openly slamming the situation, it can only mean that things really are in a bad state.
These players know the ins and outs of the club, having won trophies while playing at the highest level there.
Yet the additional negativity from those who have been there and done it could be having an effect on the current squad’s morale.
Former defender Frank Leboeuf is one who has not been shy when it comes to talking about Chelsea in recent years.
And he took aim at the Blues following their defeat by Brighton, criticising the lack of intensity and fight from players.
He said: “I saw a team that gave up after the second goal. We didn’t want to fight and didn’t know what to do.
“That was so bad and so unprofessional.”
William Gallas hadn’t even waited for the season to start when he badmouthed the quality of Chelsea’s squad while insisting they WON’T finish in the top four.
He bellowed: “I’m looking at this squad of players and I don’t see nearly enough quality.
“There is no way they’d get into the best Chelsea teams – half wouldn’t even get on the bench.
“They aren’t good enough to win a title, which should always be the aim of a club like Chelsea.
“Are they good enough to quality for the Champions League? I have serious doubts.
“I don’t recognise this version of Chelsea anymore.”
The biggest critic of Chelsea has been two-time title winner and Champions League victor John Obi Mikel.
He has openly blasted their club and their new owners this season.
And after Maresca claimed that finishing in the top four was the end goal of a TWO-YEAR project, Mikel exploded with rage on his podcast.
The former midfielder yelled: “Who the f**k has told them that? Are you f*****g kidding me? This is Chelsea Football Club.
“No disrespect to Leicester where he’s coming from, this is f*****g Chelsea. We are a Champions League club.
“We’ve always been in the Champions League. I’ve never watched a f*****g game in the Conference League. I don’t care, that’s not who we are.
“For me, for him to come out and say we’re ahead of schedule, no you are not. We should be there.
“I think that comment the manager made that we are not contenders to win the title, that has got into players’ heads and the whole thing since then has been a f*****g disaster.”