Chelsea fans will probably be frustrated by Moises Caicedo’s comments about their defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday.
The Blues absolutely dominated the first half against the Villans and could easily have gone into the break 2-0 up.
Still, they returned to the dressing room with a 1-0 lead and were fully expected to secure all three points at Stamford Bridge.
However, Ollie Watkins scored twice in the second half to turn the game around and extend Villa’s advantage in the Premier League table to 10 points.
Caicedo has since addressed Chelsea’s poor game management that cost them the victory, but Blues fans have heard it all before.
Chelsea drop a huge three points 😑
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Chelsea lose to Aston Villa
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Moises Caicedo repeats message Chelsea fans have heard too many times
Chelsea have struggled to see out games throughout the season, and it was an issue again on Saturday.
Having played so well in the first half, Enzo Maresca’s side looked like a completely different team in the second.
It felt like a matter of when, not if, Villa would punish the Blues for not killing the game when they were on top.
Moises Caicedo has now recognized that Chelsea need to improve their game management, but actions speak louder than words.
“We need to keep learning from this because we were there, up, but in the Premier League you need to be consistent to stay up,” he told the Chelsea website.
Newcastle United v Chelsea - Premier League
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“So we need to keep learning. This is not just a loss, it’s a chance to learn, and for sure, we’re going to come back even stronger.
“It’s important for us, for the fans, to end the year in a good way. So we’re just going to learn from this and focus on the next game because we want to give everything.”
However, the Blues have already lost so many points this season from winning positions that fans have lost faith in the team to learn from their mistakes.
That is why Caicedo’s comments about improving will not give supporters any confidence. If anything, they will be annoyed that the team has not already improved.
Why aren’t Chelsea killing off games? 👎
Chelsea have dropped 11 points from winning positions in home Premier League matches this season — four more than any other side.
— BBC Sport
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Chelsea have dropped the most points from winning positions this season
The statistics back up the narrative that Chelsea’s biggest problem this season has been lacklustre game management.
The Blues have taken the lead in 13 of their 18 Premier League games and only won eight, drawing twice and losing three times.
Times Leading Wins Draws Losses
Chelsea 13 8 2 3
Transfermarkt
They have now suffered defeats to Aston Villa, Sunderland, and Brighton after going 1-0 up, dropping the joint-most points from winning positions (13) in the league.
By comparison, Villa have not lost any of the 12 games where they were in front, dropping points in only one.
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