Chelsea went from being tearfully disappointing to blindingly excellent in the span of a few days. It would be a nice change to have a modicum of perspective when people talk about how to move forward.
Huddersfield are the worst team in the league. They’re not bad, sad, mad or mediocre. They are having one of the worst seasons in the history of the Premier League. Through 24 games they have 11 points: three more than Derby County had at this point when they went on to finish with a record-low 11 points. So before any Chelsea fans open the beers and celebration, everyone involved with the club should pause for a second.
Of course it’s wonderful that Gonzalo Higuain and Eden Hazard each scored doubles. The team looked strong, too. But shouldn’t they have? Absolutely, and that’s the big issue. If Chelsea are playing at home against a weakened side on roughly one-fifth the salary, they damn better be wonderful. But when the going is tough and they might need to suffer a little through the winter and some difficult away matches, then hope be damned because it simply won’t happen.
This Chelsea side are too celebrated for doing the things they’re supposed to and not thrashed throughly enough for the things that they do wrong.
The loss to Bournemouth – no disrespect to the high-flying south coast club – was embarrassing. Eddie Howe is an excellent manager and they have a talented group of strong players. But a team like Chelsea should never have a performance or result like this, but this isn’t the sort of thing a team like Chelsea is supposed to do and that’s the problem.
Chelsea are barely ahead of the hottest team in the Premier League, who await the Blues at home later this month. Chelsea will go to Old Trafford not knowing the future of the best player in the team nor any closer to resolving the situation around the best youth player in the side. They still have cancerous personalities in the dressing room, who they tolerate by turning a Ray Charles-calibre blind eye, one without any of his timing, talent or charisma.
The club is in total and utter chaos and we are supposed to be celebrating the fact they scored five goals against Huddersfield? No. Get back to work.
They should have sold Willian in the window to Paris Saint-Germain. This would have solidified their relationship with Hudson-Odoi while profiting off the desperate and Neymar-less Parisians.
The ridiculous notion of giving David Luiz a new contract should simply stop. Antonio Rudiger does not deserve the punishment he absorbs for the blatant ridiculousness of the Brazilian.
It was excellent that Andreas Christensen had an opportunity against Huddersfield. Now we must see how the team integrates the other youth players moving forward.
All the unwarranted celebrations have turned the conversations from where Chelsea need them to be. Has Maurizio Sarri learned anything about squad rotation? We could be talking about that. Will Chelsea have an actual tangible plan for the summer transfer window? We could be talking about that.
We could even be talking about how marvelous Maurizio Sarri is for his honesty with his players. He doesn’t play mind games through the media nor overwork himself through any angles. He’s honest in a way Chelsea managers never are.
Yet somehow, some way, in the most Chelsea manner ever, we are distracted by how Chelsea did exactly what they should have done instead of everything that they should not have. And yet people wonder somehow why progress isn’t made.
It’s good they beat Huddersfield. It’s bad that they think that means anything at all.