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Although The Blues didn’t completely torpedo their hopes of ending up in the top eight of the European competition opening phase, they performed a precise, surgical strike on their own hopes of automatically qualifying for the round of 16. Of course, the silver lining is that in the brief history of the recently revamped competition, achieving a place in the top eight may not be as crucial as it seems.

The Core Problem: A Monotonous Inconsistency

Sadly for Stamford Bridge regulars, the only consistent thing about the Chelsea team is a reliably erratic lack of consistency, which has been much remarked upon since their defeat in Italy. After seemingly confirming their credentials with an impressive beat-down of a European giant, and then a bad-tempered draw with a London rival, Chelsea have been stuffed by Leeds, played out a snoozy stalemate at Bournemouth and have now been beaten by a mid-table side from Serie A.

While pundits have been quick to lay the blame on a team selection approach that appears to see the coach change his lineup incessantly, the manager insists that, injuries and suspensions aside, the core of his starting lineup for games against strong opposition is largely set in stone.

“In my view in that game, first XI, we had inside the pitch eight, nine players that play against Tottenham, they played against Barca, they play against Wolverhampton, the Gunners,” he stated. “There were most of the regulars that are the ones playing every time for matches of this magnitude. So if you look at the five changes that we did from the Bournemouth game, it’s different.”

What Comes Next

For a genuine opportunity of escaping the Bigger Cup playoff round, Chelsea will have to win their remaining two matches. First up, they host this season’s surprise package a Cypriot team, then travel back to the continent to face the Italian title holders, the Neapolitan side.

“Victories in both are required, if not, we try to play the extra round and then progress to the following stage,” sniffed the Italian coach, whose next appointment is a match against an Everton team whose current form has taken to them to the surprising position of seventh in the domestic league.

Side Stories

Quote of the Day: “You know, it’s actually funny because his greatest wish was me becoming a professional golfer. That was his ultimate ambition. So when I was 10, he pushed me to start on golf. So I played golf every week from when I was 10 to 13” – a star striker revealed how, if his father had his preference, he could have been on the golf course rather than tearing it up in the top flight.

Readers' Letters

“Well, no wonder Wolverhampton Wanderers are in such a poor situation. As any longtime reader of this email will know, the only effective pre-match protests involve walking from a pub that the supporters intended to visit anyway, to the ground that they were inevitably going to. Just showing up 10 minutes late? That’s how long it takes fans to get to their seats anyway” – a correspondent.

“I see that a reader not only got Tuesday’s featured letter, but also a name check in a separate letter. On a night where both clubs from Sheffield again surrendered points after leading, I am led to ponder: could Sheffield be proving that the frequency of representation in your letters section is inversely proportional to the value of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – another fan.