Chelsea at Aston Villa: Three lessons learnt in uninspiring defeat

Chelsea took on Aston Villa in the final league game of the season knowing that a win against its opponent would guarantee it a place in next year’s Champions League. However, in somewhat spectacular fashion, the Blues completely imploded against a Villa side with nothing left to play for. Incredibly wasteful in front of goal and unsettled at the back, the players simply did not look up for it as Cesar Azpilicueta’s 89′ red card finished off what was a miserable matchweek 38 for the Blues.

Here are three lessons learnt from Aston Villa 2 Chelsea 1:

1. Actions speak louder than words

After all the fighting talk of “showing what it means to play for Chelsea” from the likes of Jorginho and Cesar Azpilicueta in the aftermath of the club’s defeat in the FA Cup final to Leicester City—and Daniel Amartey’s antics in the Leicester dressing room—it was a rather deflating performance from the Blues.

Although the team performed admirably against the Foxes in the Premier League fixture directly succeeding the FA Cup final, all the goodwill and fight was completely absent against Aston Villa when it mattered most. This is despite knowing fully that a win would confirm Chelsea’s league position in third, whilst eliminating the possibility of winning the Champions League final becoming the club’s only hope of making it into Europe’s elite competition next season.

Instead, Jorginho gave away a foolish penalty and Azpilicueta, of all people, got himself sent off in a moment of folly. The performances and the attitudes were all over the place. With players like Christian Pulisic bemoaning about the need to constantly prove himself over and over again, no one—certainly not the American—stood up to be counted for on the day. It has been a rather lumpish end to the season thus far, but luckily for these players, the Champions League final still beckons. Let the football do the talking, then all will be quickly forgiven.