Having not won a game of football in over a month and out of both domestic cup competitions already, consecutive defeats this week against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League and Southampton in the Premier League have condemned Chelsea to just two wins in their last 15 games. This is unacceptable form for a club of Chelsea’s stature.
While injuries and a constantly changing squad have undoubtedly played a part in Chelsea’s poor run of form, Saturday’s dismal performance against a manager-less Saints side, who find themselves bottom of the league with one win in 10 matches, represents a new low for Graham Potter. Here are three things that the Chelsea manager got wrong in CFC versus Southampton.
An absurd number of changes to the side
One of the biggest problems Potter has had to overcome, as he himself frequently talks about, is the lack of consistency in terms of the squad from which he could select a starting eleven from. An understandable result of constant injuries to key players and an unfortunate by-product of adding 6 first-team players into the team across the Janaury transfer window, Potter has never had the luxury of having consistent options upon which he could rely on. This much is undeniable.
However, Potter certainly did not help matters against Southampton with his decision to make seven whole changes to the side that played well, but ultimately lost to Borussia Dortmund. As a direct consequence of this bizarre decision, Chelsea’s forward line and midfield looked completely lost and out of touch with one another against a disciplined Southampton. The forwards greatly struggled to string together a meaningful series of passes whilst Enzo Fernandez toiled away in the midfield, seemingly operating on an entirely different wavelength from Mateo Kovacic.
Considering how well Chelsea played against Dortmund and notwithstanding the fact that some players, such as Kai Havertz, were rightly dropped following a poor run of form, was the better option not to stick with what worked four days prior? At the end of the day, as much as Potter would want to point to various reasons behind the team’s poor performances and results, there are simply no excuses for failing to beat the last-placed team in the league at home. Chelsea fans are right to demand better, and Potter has much to do in order to bring the fans back on side.