Premier League to blame as Chelsea drops points once again

This is something I’ve wanted to write for quite awhile. Before diving into the main point, something needs to be said. I’m not one to make excuses, nor am I overly optimistic or pessimistic. I consider myself a realist, especially as it relates to Chelsea. The Blues were not good enough against Brighton at any level. Period. Callum Hudson-Odoi made a number of mistakes in the final third, Trevoh Chalobah should’ve defended the header better and Mason Mount’s goal should’ve stood. However, Brighton fully deserved the equalizer. I don’t like to make blanket statements without asking the most important question of all: why?

The Seagulls came to Stamford Bridge to play their fifth and final game of the month. Their hosts were playing in their ninth game of December. There is bound to be exhaustion in a team that has played almost twice as many matches as its opposition. There is, of course, reasons for this. Chelsea is going to play more contests than Brighton in almost every month of the year due to the fact the Blues will have played in six competitions by the campaign’s conclusion. Nevertheless, the Premier League is fully to blame for its blatant disregard for player safety. This idiocy of high-ranking officials within the English top flight has cost Chelsea dearly over the last few weeks.

The Premier League is largely to blame for Chelsea’s struggles at the moment

Fans have been talking all month about the curse of December. It’s true, for some of the poor performances, the Blues can only blame themselves. Games against Manchester United and Zenit come to mind. However, Chelsea has been put at a disadvantage by the Premier League in numerous games and there is seemingly nothing that can be done about it. Before going any further, I want to clarify one thing: the Blues aren’t the only team being impacted by COVID-19. The entirety of the English top flight has been touched by the Coronavirus in one way or another. Regardless, it seems as if Chelsea has gotten the short end of the stick a few different times.

The first of which came against Everton. The Blues’ match against the Toffees went on, despite Thomas Tuchel not having a single recognized striker in his side. Kai Havertz, Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner were all ruled out with COVID-19. Callum Hudson-Odoi was also absent after testing positive, meaning the German couldn’t even name a single attacking substitute to his bench. The game ended in a 1-1 draw. It was much of the same against Wolves three days later. Chelsea didn’t even have enough fit players to field a full bench, naming two goalkeepers to a group of six reserves. Yet, the Premier League denied the team’s request to postpone the contest, despite granting other teams’ cancellations for similar situations. The result of that match? A 0-0 draw.

A match against Brentford in the Carabao Cup saw Chelsea field three young stars from the development squad to try and alleviate some of the pressure on first team players. It worked to some degree, but even against Aston Villa, a mix of injuries and COVID-19 issues forced some players back into the team immediately following their return from isolation. This all resulted in an exhausted squad taking the field against Brighton on Wednesday afternoon. As stated earlier, the Blues failed to take their chances and the Seagulls earned what many believe to be a fair result after a decent outing. However, the problems are much larger than just one silly little match.

Over the last few weeks, spectators have seen Mateo Kovacic thrust back into side with little time to recover after two months out of the team (injury and Coronavirus). They’ve watched N’Golo Kante brought onto the pitch time and time again, despite it being glaringly obvious he’s playing through the pain. They’ve seen Hudson-Odoi forced to play 90 minutes two days after battling COVID-19 and Lukaku introduced at halftime under the same circumstances. Marcos Alonso, Reece James, Jorginho and others look exhausted by the end of matches as they’re running on empty. Players are dropping like flies. Yet, the cries for help from around the league are falling on deaf ears per usual.

This isn’t meant to be a piece complaining about dropped points. The Blues have been put at a disadvantage but the failure to capitalize on their chances has come back to hurt them in the long run. However, all that one can ask for is a fair shake and Chelsea has gotten anything but that lately. The Premier League has made a mockery of player safety during this latest wave of Coronavirus that is sweeping across the world this winter. The league officials are the reason for everything bad happening at the moment with almost every club.

Thank goodness the January transfer window opens up in three days.