Chelsea vs Brighton: Three lessons learnt both on and off the pitch
By Anthony Gatt
2. The time to get down to business is now
Regardless of what may have happened over the past 48 hours, Tuesday’s performance was not acceptable when playing a team in a relegation battle. Both West Brom and Brighton have and could have beaten the Blues in the past few weeks, which shouldn’t happen to a team chasing top four this late in the season.
The West Brom performance was a joke and Chelsea quickly bounced back, so let’s hope the players come out motivated on Saturday because that game against West Ham may seal their fate. I will get to that West Ham game in a minute, but let’s first touching upon today’s 0-0 draw. Overall, it was very similar to the performance at Elland Road the Blues had back in March. The team lacked any creativity and could have lost the game, but luckily didn’t, mirroring Tuesday’s game entirely when Danny Welbeck could have won it for Brighton in 79′. Alas, he hit the post and the spoils were shared.
Now all that is important is that the team puts this performance behind it and gets ready for the massive clash at the weekend. That game will either cement or derail the Blues’ top four ambitions when they take on West Ham Saturday afternoon. There are relegation six-pointers, now we have UCL six-pointers. A win with only six games to go and with Chelsea’s run in being much harder then West Ham’s, it is very important to get the three points. A win Tuesday would have put the Blues two points clear of fifth. With only gaining one point, this game is a must win. The men in the suits handled their business, now it’s the players’ turn to do so, as well.