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Although Chelsea avoided a total demolition of their prospects of finishing in the highest eight places of the European competition opening phase, they performed a targeted blow on their own chances of waltzing straight into the knockout stages. Of course, the good news is that in the brief history of the recently revamped tournament, securing a place in the top eight isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

The Core Problem: A Predictable Lack of Consistency

Unfortunately for the club's supporters, the only consistent thing about Enzo Maresca’s side is a reliably erratic lack of consistency, which has been much remarked upon since their loss in Bergamo. After seemingly confirming their quality with an impressive beat-down of a European giant, followed by a feisty stalemate with a London rival, the team have been defeated by a Championship side, played out a snoozy stalemate at the south coast club and have now been beaten by a average team from Serie A.

While pundits have been quick to lay the blame on a selection policy that seems to see the coach rotate his team constantly, the Chelsea head coach insists that, knack and naughty step permitting, the core of his starting lineup for big matches is largely set in stone.

“I think tonight, first XI, we had on the field the majority of the team that featured against Spurs, they played against Barca, they play against Wolves, Arsenal,” he stated. “We had most of the regulars that are the ones playing every time for these kind of games. So if you see the several alterations that we did from the Bournemouth game, it’s a different situation.”

What Comes Next

To have any realistic chance of escaping the additional knockout round, Chelsea will have to be victorious in their remaining two matches. First up, they host the unexpected contenders Pafos, then travel back to the continent to face the Serie A champions, the Neapolitan side.

“Victories in both are required, if not, we will face the playoff and then progress to the next round,” remarked the Italian coach, whose following fixture is a match against an Everton team whose recent consistency has taken to them to the surprising position of the top half in the domestic league.

Side Stories

Notable Comment: “You know, it’s somewhat ironic because his biggest dream was me turning pro in golf. That was his biggest dream. So when I was 10, he forced me to start on golf. So I practiced every week from when I was 10 to 13” – Erling Haaland explained how, had his dad got his way, he could have been on the golf course rather than tearing it up in the Premier League.

Fan Correspondence

“So, no wonder Wolverhampton Wanderers are in such a poor situation. As any regular reader of this email will know, the only good pre-match protests involve walking from a pub that the supporters planned to be at anyway, to the ground that they were always going to. Just arriving 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 letter o’ the day, but also a name check in a separate letter. On a night where both Sheffield teams once more surrendered points after leading, I am wondering: could the city be proving that the regularity of representation in your letters section is inversely related to the success of anything our teams are achieving on the field?” – another fan.