How for much longer can this go on? A fifth straight league defeat for Chelsea with out scoring and the way becoming it’s that the final time that occurred was the yr the Titanic sank.
To explain this Chelsea staff as being all at sea beneath Liam Rosenior is to do a disservice to that well-known previous wreckage and it’s important to ponder whether he’ll stay the person to salvage what’s left of their season.
The chants of ‘F*** off, Rosenior’ that erupted from the away finish after Jack Hinshelwood made it 2-0 informed you what the Chelsea followers thought of that.
Chelsea are seven factors adrift of the Champions League locations now. Their solely actual hope is that Aston Villa end outdoors the highest 4 and win the Europa League in order that sixth will qualify.
Can they even handle that? Even Brighton moved above them with their win right here, and this can be a membership that was additionally calling for his or her supervisor to be sacked earlier within the marketing campaign.
This defeat has given Chelsea’s house owners an enormous choice to make. Do they belief Rosenior to get them out of this mess and to beat Leeds this weekend and attain the FA Cup remaining or do they arrive to the identical realisation because the followers and suppose he’s misplaced this group of gamers?
Liam Rosenior is beneath big strain at Chelsea after a fifth straight Premier League defeat
Chelsea are seven factors adrift of the Champions League locations after one other poor show
Co-owner Behdad Eghbali was within the stands and he will certainly have observed Moises Caicedo, the latest recipient of a seven-year contract, ambling again for Brighton’s second aim.
If Rosenior’s issues weren’t already piling excessive sufficient earlier than this defeat, having the information leaked by one in every of his gamers’ barbers that Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro would each be lacking via harm was not prone to have been on his bingo card.
Marc Cucurella’s hairdresser posted the information on X earlier within the day with an image of the Chelsea full-back having his hair trimmed. He’d be proved proper, too. Palmer, so Rosenior confirmed, felt some tightness in his hamstring and so wasn’t risked forward of the FA Cup semi-final in opposition to Leeds on Sunday when Pedro was additionally anticipated to return.
Simply what he wanted. Making an attempt – and failing – to finish their aim drought with out the one two Chelsea gamers to attain within the league for the reason that victory over West Ham on the finish of January.
Palmer and Pedro had netted 10 between them since then. Even the one in defeat at Arsenal was a Piero Hincapie personal aim.
It was clear Rosenior felt he needed to do one thing. Combine it up, roll the cube, no matter you need to name it. That began together with his system, no matter form it was. Generally it regarded like a again 5, the primary time he’d used one within the league all season, at others the nice old school 4-4-2 with Jorrel Hato at right-back and Cucurella on the wing. Enzo Fernandez began up entrance with Liam Delap and Pedro Neto floated in an odd auxiliary wing-back position. The beneficiant observer may name it ‘fluid’. Greater than something, it simply regarded a large number. It was as if Rosenior had lobbed some spaghetti hoops at his ways board and informed his gamers to observe no matter path they took as they slid down.
His gamers appeared to seek out it simply as tough to fathom as these watching from the sidelines. No surprise Brighton minimize via them at will, particularly within the early phases, and ceaselessly through the slicing proper boot of Pascal Gross.
The German ceaselessly discovered tons of area down the Brighton proper and whipped in harmful cross after cross from deep.
His first, with barely three minutes on the clock, discovered an unmarked Kaoru Mitoma on the again submit who so almost recreated his beautiful volley at Tottenham just for Robert Sanchez, one of many former Brighton lot alongside Cucurella and Moises Caicedo who have been booed each time they touched the ball.
It was from the ensuing nook that Hato flicked the ball on on the close to submit solely so far as the unguarded Ferdi Kadioglu past the again keep on with rifle within the opening aim.
Gross whipped one other in the direction of Jan Paul van Hecke, which the centre-back met together with his head and Sanchez, once more, needed to tip over.
Jack Hinshelwood scored Brighton’s second because the Seagulls ran out snug winners
Danny Welbeck got here off the bench so as to add a 3rd and compound the distress for Chelsea
Co-owner Behdad Eghbali was within the stands because the Blues’ dreadful run of kind continued
The Chelsea goalkeeper, by no means too far-off from a mistake, wanted rescuing himself when he noticed his cross intercepted by Carlos Baleba inside his personal penalty space and it was solely the determined defending of Trevoh Chalobah that cleared Jack Hinshelwood’s effort off the road. Hinshelwood would make no mistake simply earlier than the hour when Brighton broke away, Chelsea someway left with a two-on-two, and Rutter slipped him.
Chelsea created completely nothing. They mustered only a single shot within the first half and that was solely a long-range punt right into a crowd of our bodies by Chalobah.
The one constructive was that they went into half-time only a aim down however for a membership that’s spent £2billion beneath Todd Boehly and BlueCo, Rosenior might solely flip to a bench with two Premier League objectives this season between them.
A kind of objectives was from Alejandro Garnacho, jeered by each units of followers in opposition to his former membership Manchester United on the weekend, who got here off the bench to interchange Wesley Fofana as Rosenior modified system once more.
Garnacho did, a minimum of, tee up Romeo Lavia for an effort not lengthy after the restart however one which flew safely over the bar. That was about it.
By then, Brighton have been having enjoyable. Mitoma did some kick ups to lob the ball over Neto earlier than volleying simply vast. Kadioglu had one other couple of efforts saved. Danny Welbeck got here off the bench late on so as to add a 3rd.
Chelsea should be a lot, a lot better than this if they’re to get the higher of Leeds this weekend at Wembley, whoever is in cost. Daniel Farke’s facet are lively. Chelsea, however, are sinking and quick.
