Chelsea's season just won't take off. Of course, injuries are to blame for that. But even then, one would think that the Blues have enough depth, having spent more than a billion since the change in ownership, to not lose at home to newly-promoted Sunderland at home. Well, if you though that, you were proven wrong as Enzo Maresca's side lost 2-1 at Stamford Bridge this weekend, leaving them eighth in the Premier League table, and it could get significantly worse by the end of the matchday.
Just for context, Manchester United are now ahead of them. How many questions have there been around Ruben Amorim? Well, somehow, there does not seem to be any doubts around Maresca's future at Stamford Bridge.
Of course, it would be wrong to ignore the sheer number of injuries that Chelsea are having to navigate at the moment. The likes of Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill and Liam Delap are out injured. But even those who are playing seem to be doing so through fitness issues of their own.
As reported by The Standard, Maresca said after Chelsea's defeat at the hands of Sunderland:
"Joao has not been training every day because he is managing a little bit, himself, from an injury. Mo is the same, Enzo is exactly the same.
“We have four or five players that, unfortunately, because of some problems, they cannot work every day and they try to make the effort to play the game.
“So, Joao, in some games, has been better. Today he struggled a little bit, but today, I think, overall, all the players struggled today. So, it’s not just about Joao."
Enzo Maresca names Chelsea trio who played with injuries vs Sunderland
After a tremendous start to life at Chelsea, when he could do nothing wrong, Pedro's form has been on a steep downward trajectory in recent weeks. He has not scored since August.
There are suggestions that he is not an out-and-out striker. So, he did feature in a role behind Marc Guiu in the game against Sunderland but once again, struggled to make an impact on the game.
One has to wonder if the fitness issues are impacting his game and whether he needs some time out of the team. Then again, Chelsea do not have too many options in that area of the pitch, which is why Pedro has had to play through the niggles in the first place.
Even Caicedo looked uncharacteristically sloppy at times against Sunderland. To be fair, Fernandez has improved over the course of the season although he too had a game worth forgetting this weekend.