The Manager's Relentless Rotation Has Chelsea Off Balance.

Although The Blues didn't entirely destroy their hopes of ending up in the top eight of the European competition group stage, they executed a precise, surgical strike on their own hopes of strolling directly into the round of 16. Of course, the good news is that in the short one-year history of the new and not-necessarily-improved competition, securing a place in the top eight may not be as crucial as it seems.

The Core Concern: A Predictable Inconsistency

Unfortunately for Stamford Bridge regulars, the only consistent thing about the Chelsea team is a reliably erratic inconsistency, which has been widely discussed since their loss in Bergamo. After seemingly confirming their quality with an impressive beat-down of Barcelona, followed by a bad-tempered draw with a London rival, the team have been defeated by Leeds, played out a dull draw at the south coast club and have now been beaten by a mid-table side from Serie A.

While pundits have been eager to point the finger on a team selection approach that seems to see Enzo Maresca rotate his team incessantly, the Chelsea head coach maintains that, knack and naughty step permitting, the core of his starting lineup for big matches is mostly fixed.

“In my view in that game, starting team, we had on the field eight, nine players that play against Tottenham, they play against Barca, they play against Wolverhampton, Arsenal,” he droned. “We had most of the regulars that are the ones playing every time for matches of this magnitude. So if you see the several alterations that we did compared to Bournemouth game, it’s different.”

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 Pafos, then travel back to Italy to face the Italian title holders, Napoli.

“We need to win both, otherwise, we try to play the playoff and then go to the following stage,” remarked Maresca, whose following fixture is a game against an Everton team whose recent consistency has propelled them to the surprising position of the top half in the domestic league.

Other Notes

Notable Comment: “You know, it’s somewhat ironic because his greatest wish was me turning pro in golf. That was his ultimate ambition. 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 teeing off rather than scoring goals in the Premier League.

Fan Correspondence

“Well, no wonder Wolves are in such a poor situation. As any longtime reader of this column will know, the only good pre-match protests involve marching from a public house that the supporters planned to be at anyway, to the stadium that they were always going to. Just arriving 10 minutes late? That’s how long it takes fans to get to their seats anyway” – one reader.

“I note that a reader not only got the previous featured letter, but also a name check in a separate letter. On a night where both Sheffield teams once more dropped points after leading, I am wondering: could the city be proving that the frequency of appearances in your letters section is inversely related to the value of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – a different supporter.