Chelsea back in crisis mode according to the media

Chelsea are in crisis (or CRISIS as it is sometimes spelled) once more after losing to Manchester United. But things are not as bad as they appear (yet).

The loss to Manchester United is barely a day old. Reporters are gleefully clicking away at stories calling an end to the reign of Antonio Conte. Forums are somewhere between a nuclear waste dump and an oil spill on the toxicity scale. Yes, this is truly a crisis once more.

Except it really is not. The loss to United eliminated the good will gained against Barcelona. And with Manchester City looming, the mood has quickly reverted towards post Watford/Bournemouth levels. Things are bad, yes, but this is not quite a crisis yet.

Reports that the next four matches are vital for Conte are silly. What would be the point? Fire a manager with (at that point) eight Premier League games to go to save top four? No new manager in the world could come in and turn that around. And what would a loss to Barcelona in the Camp Nou or Leicester at the King Power say? Only that Chelsea lost to the most in form team in the world and lost their best chance for a trophy against a tricky mid table team on their turf.

Some will point to Eden Hazard looking upset as he came off as a sign of locker room distress. To that, the only answer is that if Hazard wants to stay on the pitch, he needs to offer more than a slow walk around Old Trafford and stealing credit for all the work Willian put into the goal.

Now, all this is not to say that things are perfect or that reports are not on to something. Chelsea will not hesitate to change managers to save a chance at top four. It will likely not matter at the end of the season. That is the price to be paid for failing to meet objectives.

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Antonio Conte knows this and has been saying it all season. Top four was the bare minimum requirement. Continuing with Conte is not possible if that objective is not met.

There is one hollow victory to be won if Conte is sacked. The potential replacement would have a few months with the squad. They could then evaluate everyone before the summer and start building early. That is, of course, if reported target Luis Enrique or someone else would even want to start the job a few months early. Hiring anyone short term would be a waste of time better served by keeping Conte.

This is not a crisis yet. Even losing to Manchester City (assuming even one other result goes Chelsea’s way) would not be a full on crisis. Losing to Spurs or Liverpool later in the season? Or losing against someone that should be beaten such as Crystal Palace? That will be crisis.

The Blues have a week off to rest before Manchester City. The future champions will be on a short rest after playing Arsenal twice in the span of a week. Chelsea have a decent chance at an upset. A win for Chelsea would once more quiet the crisis bellhorn.

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But the noise will not be far away if Chelsea slip up again. The margin of error is as slim as it can get. Though the club is not in crisis yet, they are on the edge looking over at it.