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Although Chelsea avoided a total demolition of their prospects of ending up in the top eight of the continental tournament opening phase, they performed a precise, surgical strike on their own chances of strolling directly into the round of 16. Naturally, the silver lining is that in the short one-year history of the new and not-necessarily-improved tournament, securing a place in the top eight isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

The Core Problem: A Monotonous Lack of Consistency

Unfortunately for the club's supporters, the only consistent thing about Enzo Maresca’s side is a monotonously predictable lack of consistency, which has been much remarked upon since their defeat in Italy. After apparently rubber-stamping their credentials with an commanding victory of a European giant, and then a bad-tempered draw with a London rival, Chelsea have been stuffed by a Championship side, played out a dull draw at the south coast club and have now been beaten by a mid-table side from Serie A.

Although critics have been eager to point the finger on a selection policy that seems to see Enzo Maresca change his lineup incessantly, the Chelsea head coach maintains that, injuries and suspensions aside, the core of his first eleven for games against strong opposition is mostly fixed.

“In my view tonight, first XI, we had inside the pitch eight, nine players that featured against Tottenham, they played against Barcelona, they played against Wolves, the Gunners,” he stated. “We had most of the regulars that are the ones consistently selected for matches of this magnitude. So if you see the five changes that we did compared to Bournemouth game, it’s a different situation.”

What Comes Next

For a genuine opportunity of avoiding the Bigger Cup playoff round, they will have to be victorious in their final two group games. In the first, they welcome the unexpected contenders Pafos, before heading back to the continent to face the Serie A champions, Napoli.

“We need to win both, otherwise, we try to play the playoff and then progress to the following stage,” remarked the Italian coach, whose next appointment is a game against an Everton team whose current form has propelled them to the surprising position of seventh in the Premier League.

Other Notes

Notable Comment: “It's interesting, it’s somewhat ironic because his greatest wish was me becoming a professional golfer. That was his ultimate ambition. So when I was 10, he pushed me to take up golf. So I practiced every week from when I was 10 to 13” – Erling Haaland revealed how, if his father had his preference, he could have been teeing off rather than scoring goals in the top flight.

Fan Correspondence

“So, no wonder Wolves are in such a poor situation. As any regular reader of this column will know, the only good pre-match protests involve walking from a pub 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 see that a reader not only got Tuesday’s letter o’ the day, but also a name check in a separate letter. On a night where both Sheffield teams again surrendered points after leading, I am led to ponder: could Sheffield be proving that the regularity of representation in your mailbag is inversely proportional to the success of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – another fan.