Chelsea FC manager Guus Hiddink has reminded his players this week that they are not out of the relegation danger zone
After two wins in a row, against less than stellar opposition of course, the mood at Chelsea FC was starting to improve. With West Brom coming to Stamford Bridge things were looking even better but that was not the approved script for whoever is writing this disaster of a season. In a testy affair against the Baggies where two players had given the referee cause to send them off, the Blues looked out of sorts once again.
Chelsea FC had a chance to move a bit closer to safety and leapfrog West Brom in to 13th place on 26 points with a victory but they failed to do so with an abject performance. The Blues took the lead twice in the match but the Baggies equalized 10 or so minutes after both of Chelsea’s goals.
Both of West Brom’s goals came due to some embarrassing defense which has become the story of the season for the Blues. Pedro was caught in possession for the first and Kurt Zouma gave Craig Gardner all the space he needed to line up his shot from distance.
More from The Pride of London
- Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea player ratings: Abysmal, reckless, wasteful
- Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea: 3 Blues talking points
- Bournemouth vs Chelsea: 1 Blue Mauricio Pochettino should drop
- Bournemouth vs Chelsea: 3 Blues who must start
- Predicted Chelsea lineup vs Bournemouth: Palmer starts in 4-2-3-1
The second goal was an example of terrible marking as James McClean was left alone at the top of the Chelsea box after a lucky deflection fell to his feet. This was a match that the Blues should have won by all accounts but they instead dropped another two points at home.
With performances like this, Guus Hiddink was blunt about the dangers the Blues are facing:
"“We all like to look forward, but don’t be unrealistic when you are six points above the relegation line, that is a fact. It was a setback in the 86th minute we got this draw against West Brom which would’ve helped us a lot in going up I think, so relegation is a reality.“When we started we were one point above the relegation line, and now we have a little bit more of a breathe, but we have two very difficult games coming up, against Everton who have a very good away record in the last 10 games. Then Arsenal – two very difficult games. If you don’t gather those points, the Premier League can surprise you.”Source: Sky Sports"
As Hiddink said, Chelsea currently sit just six points above the relegation zone and with fixtures against Everton, Arsenal, Waftord, and Manchester United coming up things could get much worse. If Chelsea play the way they did against West Brom then losing all four of those matches is a distinct possibility and could further this crisis.
At the start of the season or even a few months in to it one could have hardly imagined a scenario where the Blues get relegated but we have seen big clubs suffer the drop in the past. Luckily for Chelsea, Sunderland and Aston Villa have been terrible but the third relegation candidate is still undecided.
Next: Chelsea FC Transfer Rumours: Lavezzi And Pato Negotiations, More!
This was supposed to be a year where the Blues were going to be in the midst of a four-way battle for the Premier League title but have instead found themselves in a relegation scrum. A string of positive results over the next six weeks could change the mood once again at Stamford Bridge but anything is possible in this quagmire of a season.