Chelsea was unlucky to have little prep time for West Ham. But the lack of rotation and rest is no excuse for the draw against the Hammers.
Like most things this season, the World Cup made the Premier League weird. Teams are only just starting to pick off where they should have been with a full preseason. Alongside that is a notion of tiredness.
In the media, this has been most heavily implied about Tottenham Hotspur. The reason they figure Spurs has started the season stuttering is because of the late World Cup for many of their stars and improper rest in between.
So it should not be all that surprising that as soon as Chelsea had a languid displace that dropped points, they too fell victim to “tiredness”. But that is just an excuse. The Blues were not tired, they were just poor.
The argument to say the team was tired at least has solid footing. Many of the Chelsea starters have been playing every few days if internationals are included. Many played against PAOK or at least traveled to Greece midweek and then played West Ham again on Sunday. That list includes Antonio Rudiger, Marcos Alonso, N’Golo Kante, Jorginho, and Willian. Add in that Chelsea had a flight delay take up almost another full day and there is an argument to be made.
But the counterargument undoes the argument easily. It is September. If a top team with the best doctors and physios has players tired in September, regardless of the circumstances, they are going to be wrecked in December and obliterated by spring.
Tiredness was not the excuse for Eden Hazard not getting involved. Tiredness did not see the ball switch possession with Willian. Tiredness did not see Cesar Azpilicueta nearly beat on a few counters. It was just that bad of a day.
Touched on to the tiredness notion is the rotation idea. Many blasted Maurizio Sarri (ironically it was from those who said things would be different at Chelsea now that he had a better bench and youth set up) for not rotating more heavily for PAOK. But it makes sense even if yes, he should have rotated much more. The away trip to Greece was the hardest in the group on paper. And yes, Chelsea’s halfway B team only scored once against them. But rotation still could have happened and the Blues could have survived with a loss or draw with five more group stage games to go.
But Sarri could have played the same starters in PAOK and against West Ham and he should have expected better than he got. The team cannot be using tiredness as an excuse in September. That is practically admitting that they do not have the staying power to last the season.
Sarri’s teams often fade off at the end of the season due to his lack of rotation and intense style. If the Blues are truly tired now, that will be a new situation for him. But rather than jump to that conclusion, it is much easier to take the simplest solution and move on; Chelsea was just poor against West Ham. It had been coming for a while and it finally caught up with the Blues. What is important now is to not look for excuses but to take a step back, regroup, and go again against Liverpool twice.