London is Blue Dispatch #082

This time last year, Enzo Maresca’s Leicester were a day away from making it 29 wins out of 36 games in all competitions. Four days later they would make it 30 in 37, standing imposingly at the top of the Championship, making what felt like an unstoppable surge towards the title. Then they slipped, tumbling into a notorious 8 game run during which they won only two, allowing Leeds and Ipswich to come perilously close to mounting a comeback for the ages. They won three of their last six to stumble home.

Fast forward a year and Maresca’s Chelsea have slid from 2^nd in the league to 3 wins in 10 – those three victories coming against the mighty Morecambe in League Two, Wolves in 15^th and West Ham in 17^th. In the Blues’ last three games, three of their four goals have come via two own goals and a defensive error from a 20-year-old debutant. In the PL’s top 8 sides, the Blues are bottom of the form guide with 8 points in five. Last year’s slump has arrived in a tougher league, under increased scrutiny, and this time, the end of the season is nowhere in sight.

The manager is, rather unfairly, always the first in the firing line during a full-blown crisis, but it is undeniable that the Italian refuses to help himself. With no Jackson & Guiu available, this was his chance to attempt to adapt or innovate without repercussions. Instead, Christopher Nkunku, who has looked as enthusiastic as a vegan in a butcher shop, was thrown up top at 9 again despite his repeated failures. Dunk & Van Hecke enjoyed a pleasant evening after conceding 7 against Forest and being bullied by Chris Wood & driven to panic by Anthony Elanga. The Frenchman offered neither strength nor urgency against the Seagulls’ backline, ending the match managing fewer touches than Robert Sanchez.

With wingers proving woefully ineffectual against vulnerable fullbacks once more, Maresca again waited till the 74^th minute to make his changes, despite early subs winning him the game against West Ham. “After the second goal we conceded,” said Maresca, post-game, “I think we had two or three moments, two or three chances where we could score.” Chelsea created no big chances and managed one shot on target out of a frugal seven all game. In the reverse fixture, the Blues sacrificed possession, keeping only 37% of the ball in a half where they scored 4 goals and created four big chances. Last night, searching for an equalizer, they kept 60% of the ball in the 2nd half, ponderously passing it to & fro, managing only 4 shots. For the 2nd time after the City game, this strategy was at odds with what the opposition’s glaring weaknesses demanded.

If that wasn’t bad enough, he went on to claim that “if there is something positive, it is that we can be focused on the Premier League and Conference League,” words that should never, ever be uttered by any manager trying to prove they’re worthy of managing London’s only European Champions. Maresca’s thoughts, even if they were to take the pressure off his players, came off as exuding relief; a sentiment oft associated with clubs elsewhere in London that sell DVD box sets and keychains for making a Champions League final.

If at all Maresca is able to curb the rot will rely almost certainly on injuries and how much of their current languid stupor the XI can shake off. The Blues are firmly bottom for intensity on and off the ball, and that has been reflected consistently in the side’s physical and psychological response to going down, and in the general application in 2^nd halves of games. Whether that’s down to poor conditioning/fitness or a lack of faith in the manager will be hard to decipher even with hard data at hand. Are the players to blame for this dip? Most certainly. But many fans are asking how many individuals have improved under Maresca’s tenure, and most answers aren’t encouraging.

All of that detracts from those who should actually be in the firing line – perpetrators of back-to-back disasters in the transfer market, which saw the club splurge a small nation’s defence budget on talent, most of which they were desperately trying to or managed to offload six months on for a box of donuts. Out of Felix and Nkunku, they offloaded the one that showed more commitment to earning his place in the side. A dry loan for someone like a Randal Kolo Muani, excelling at Juventus, may well prove to be an opportunity missed. Maresca arrived against Brighton with no centerforwards. The fact that a billion pounds of spending has left gaping depth or a lack of quality at goalkeeper, leftback, left wing and centerforward is an astonishing level of incompetence.

With less than 21 games left in the season and only one trophy left to fight for, the best-case scenario is a familiar one – an Italian manager adoringly looking down on his winner’s medal of a second-tier European competition, after his star attacker takes matters into his own hands. Encouragingly, despite the recent regression, the Blues seem to be doing enough on the metrics to finish in the CL spots. Will that be enough? Let’s hope there’s a happier ending for everyone’s sakes.