Cup final loss shows how far Chelsea have fallen

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Chelsea football club stumbled once again with their 1-0 loss to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final.  Mauricio Pochettino’s side were hoping their first trip to Wembley in the Boehly and Egbahli regime would be the turning point in what has been a disappointing and confusing two year period of American ownership.

Manchester United legend and Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville did not hold back in his assessment of Chelsea, labelling Pochettino’s side the “blue billion-pound bottlejobs”.  A scathing remark echoing the sentiment of supporters and rivals that the reckless and directionless spending of more than one billion-pounds under Boehly and co has one of Englands most successful clubs in an almost comical state.

Chelsea are in 11th place in the Premier League and are closer to the relegation zone than UEFA Champions League qualification.  This season’s Carabao Cup was their best chance of silverware since their success under Thomas Tuchel and with Liverpool’s injury struggles, most notably the absences of the Reds biggest stars Alisson, Nunez, Jota, Alexander-Arnold, Szoboszlai, Jones and top scorer Salah, victory was in their hands.

The first 90 minutes was evenly matched.  Chelsea were better in front of goal than the Reds, forcing backup goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher to make crucial saves with Connor Gallagher and Cole Palmer’s efforts bringing the best out of the Irish international.

In the 30 minutes of extra-time that followed, Chelsea had the opportunity to take control.  Liverpool’s midfield and attack consisted of teenagers.  James McConnell, Bobby Clark and Jayden Danns had just 16 first team appearances between them.  Instead Pochettino’s side played for penalties, leaving Liverpool to control the tempo.  Ultimately this decision to sit back against an injury-ridden and inexperienced side led to their downfall.

The significance of this result may not be as damning as the media’s response but it is a sign of the failures of the Chelsea hierarchy.  Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo cost a combined £220m and failed to dominate the middle of the park,  a £122m front-three could not get past Liverpool’s defense and £89m winger Mykhailo Mudryk was anonymous after coming on as a substitute.

18 months on from the sacking of UEFA Champions League winning manager Thomas Tuchel, the only signs of progress  have been their performances against Manchester City and Arsenal in the Premier League, games they still failed to win.  Looking on from their Carabao Cup final disappointment,  Mauricio Pochettino will have to rebuild the morale of his young squad and now aim to climb up the Premier League table.

Another season without European football is looking likely for the Blues, barring a miraculous turnaround in form they are exactly where they belong, amongst the middle of the pack, Pochettino’s side are a mediocre amalgamation of overvalued and underperforming players who do not have the experience to turn this season around.

Photo: twitter @redRiveraa

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Dylan Johnson