Chelsea continued their topsy-turvy start to 2026 away to Fulham in the Premier League on Wednesday night.
Just a few days after holding Manchester City to a 1-1 draw, the Blues found a way to lose against the Cottagers with new boss Liam Rosenior watching on from the stands.
Granted, Marc Cucurella's red card in the first half made things extraordinarily difficult for the Blues, but even then, the rest of the team were still disappointing.
cucurella
There was one starter in particular who stood out for all the wrong reasons, someone who is a bigger liability than the Spaniard, and if Rosenior wants to start his Chelsea career right, he'll drop him.
Chelsea's poor performers vs Fulham
When talking about those who let Chelsea fans down on Wednesday night, it's impossible not to stay on Cucurella for a moment, as before he took out Harry Wilson as the last man, the team were looking dangerous.
That one lapse of judgment put his side on the backfoot and is indefensible.
However, the Spaniard wasn't the only starter who let the West Londoners down at Craven Cottage, far from it.
cole palmer
For example, Cole Palmer, who most would fairly describe as the club's most talented player, was once again anonymous bar one cute dummy that led to a missed Liam Delap chance.
The often mercurial number ten looked utterly lost in the first half, and while he looked a little more lively in the second, he was still a passenger.
Palmer v Fulham
Minutes
Expected Goals
Goals
Expected Assists
Assists
Accurate Passes
Big Chances Created
Lost Possession
Dribbles (Successful)
Duels (Won)
Dribbled Past
All Stats via Sofascore
That might sound harsh, but in his 75 minutes of action, he produced a combined expected goal and assists figure of just 0.08, completed just 79% of his passes, failed to create a big chance and failed in 100% of his dribbles.
Another notably poor display came from Trevoh Chalobah.
The centre-back wasn't much worse than his defensive partner for most of the game, but he did get caught out for the hosts' opener.
Someone worse than the Cobham graduate, though, was Enzo Fernández.
enzo
True, the Argentine did almost score an Olympico early on, but after that, his most notable contribution was picking up a stupid yellow card in the aftermath of Cucurella's red card.
However, the former Benfica has got credit in the bank for his goal against City, which cannot be said for someone who is quickly becoming Chelsea's most significant liability and should therefore be dropped by Rosenior.
Chelsea's biggest problem for Rosenior
Now, after his red card on Wednesday night, and the position that put his teammates in, many fans could argue that Cucurella is Chelsea's most significant liability.
However, when taking a step back, that seems a little unfair as over the last year or so, the Spaniard has been one of the club's best and most important players.
Moreover, there was another starter against Fulham who was terrible and has been for some time now: Pedro Neto.
Neto
Calum McFarlane gave the former Wolverhampton Wanderers star the nod on the left-hand side, but instead of impressing the new manager who was watching in the stands, he put in another dire performance.
Yes, the 25-year-old was involved in a lot of the team's play, but that was not a good thing, as he constantly made the wrong decision, lost the ball, or overhit the pass.
Neto v Fulham
Minutes
Expected Goals
Goals
Expected Assists
Assists
Touches
Accurate Crosses
Big Chances Created
Lost Possession
Shots on Target
Duels (Won)
Dribbled Past
All Stats via Sofascore
In his 96 minutes of action, the Portuguese international took 60 touches but amassed a combined expected goals and assists figure of just 0.23.
He also lost the ball 18 times, failed to take a single shot on target, and, worst of all, misplaced all but one of his 12 crosses.
With statistics such as these, the 4/10 match rating given to him by the Standard's Dom Smith feels too generous.
What makes everything worse is the fact that the rapid winger has been producing performances like that for some time.
For example, against City, he received another 4/10 rating from GOAL's Richie Mills and then against Aston Villa last month, Mills gave him another 4/10.
neto
On top of the poor performances, the Viana do Castelo-born winger is also failing to produce goal involvements, drawing a blank in his last five league games.
Ultimately, while Cucurella cost his team against Fulham, Neto has been a problem for Chelsea for some time now, and if Rosenior wants to get his tenure off to the best of starts, he should drop him from the team.
reece james Related
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The world-class talent could be a Reece James-level addition to Rosenior's Chelsea side.