Chelsea will appoint a new manager before the start of next season, and although whoever comes in will have a lot in their in-tray, there's one glaringly obvious problem they must address as a priority.
The Blues have endured a poor campaign by their standards. Even an upcoming FA Cup final against Manchester City next weekend can't disguise how disappointing this season has been.
Following their FIFA World Cup win last summer, expectations were high, but the team have fallen way short.
Not only were they dumped out of the Champions League at the first knockout stage by finalist Paris Saint-Germain, but domestic capitulation has seen them slip to as low as ninth in the table.
Although last weekend's game away to Liverpool did see the side break their losing streak, unfortunately, another worrying trend did continue.
Chelsea continue to ship early goals
Liverpool — especially away — is always a tough test. The Blues haven't won at Anfield since 2021 so they would've known leaving Merseyside with something wouldn't be easy.
They endured another nightmare start, too. Ryan Gravenberch opened the scoring after just six minutes and fans would've been forgiven for expecting to be in for a long afternoon.
Even though the side fought back well and earned a deserved point following a first half equaliser from Enzo Fernandez, Saturday's match was the ninth time the Blues had conceded in a Premier League game within the first 10 minutes.
This damning trend has cost Chelsea so many points over the course of the season and is a major red flag.
New manager must correct Chelsea's awful starts in games
With a new manager set to come in, although their identity remains unknown, it's obvious what needs to change.
The team simply cannot afford to keep going behind. The Premier League is notoriously difficult and Chelsea are only making it harder for themselves by falling behind so frequently.
A lack of concentration or confidence — potentially both — has seen the side forced to come from behind on too many occasions.
Whoever the next permanent manager will be, they must instil a winning mentality from the get-go or risk suffering the same fate as Liam Rosenior, who lasted just 104 days in charge, before being shown the exit.
Several names are linked with taking the Stamford Bridge hot seat, including Bournemouth's soon-to-depart Andoni Iraola, Fulham's Marco Silva and former Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid manager, Xabi Alonso.
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