Chelsea did not deserve to win against Cardiff on Sunday. Not because of Cesar Azpilicueta’s offside goal, but because they are coached by a man who somehow does not understand his circumstances or his best XI on March 31.
Eden Hazard and Callum Hudson-Odoi should have started this match together. Somehow, Maurizio Sarri does not seem to understand that. He has two excellent attacking options who make a difference in every single match they play at both club and international levels. Then he has two aging players on the way out and who struggle to break down sides of all levels. Sarri, despite chasing a Champions League place and having no matches to spare, picks the latter pair more often than not.
Of course, as soon as Hazard was introduced he made a difference and Chelsea looked like a good football team again.
Chelsea didn’t deserve to win and are lucky they did. Maurizio Sarri can’t stop himself from overcomplicating issues. He has no breathing room at all. He needs to win every match until the season is over both of Chelsea’s remaining competitions.
To do this he needs to play his best players in every match. That he can’t simply pick the players who are naturally the difference-makers in matches is baffling.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek makes an impact in every single match he plays for Chelsea. Against Cardiff, he even won the game for Chelsea. The same can be said of Eden Hazard and Callum Hudson-Odoi. But Sarri gave these three players limited time in the match.
When Andreas Christensen plays Chelsea more often than not keep a clean sheet. But for some reason Sarri will not pick him either. Why? Everybody except Sarri can see the absurdity.
How does Sarri not know his best XI yet? Even more concerning, what if he knows his best XI and simply chooses not to play them?
Sarri will, through his results and his team selection, more than likely cost Chelsea both Eden Hazard and Callum Hudson-Odoi this season. He is giving them the results, position and game time necessary to stay.
The writing was not on the wall at the beginning of this season for Eden Hazard. He very obviously loves the club and, had Chelsea been competing for first and playing wonderful football instead of this current ineffective, pantomime, football dressage, there was a good chance he would stay. The current circumstances have forced him out as much as anything.
The Hudson-Odoi situation simply belies belief. There are two players in the age group who are better than or on the same level as Hudson-Odoi: Kylian Mbappe and Jadon Sancho. Surely either of them would play at Chelsea, no? Surely there wouldn’t be some strange narrative about pressure surrounding them.
If Chelsea don’t qualify for the Champions League they will lose out on a lot of money. This might be the only thing that the board care about at this point Fourth place in the Premier League is worth roughly £33 million, then another £13 million from the Champions League simply for being in the group. That’s £46 million right there, followed by the £100 million loss of Eden Hazard and another £40-50 million for Callum Hudson-Odoi. Chelsea will lose roughly £200 million in cash and talent because of Sarri’s inability to simply name a team sheet with his best players on it.
There are no words at this point. Chelsea are beyond hope or reason.