Chelsea fell to a 2-1 defeat at Craven Cottage on Wednesday night and missed the chance to leapfrog Liverpool into fourth – and Stephen Warnock has blamed caretaker coach Calum McFarlane.
After a shaky start, the Blues were just getting into a bit of rhythm before a long ball from Fulham’s Bernd Leno caught the Chelsea defence cold. Last-man Marc Cucurella hauled back Harry Wilson; red card.
A seventh red card in all competitions for Chelsea, and a fifth in the Premier League. If Liam Rosenior has to sort out anything, it is a lack of discipline. Three players booked arguing with the referee over the red.
Trevor Chalobah afforded Raul Jimenez the entirety of the Chelsea box for Fulham’s first, and while Liam Delap scored his first Premier League goal, Harry Wilson’s winner saw Chelsea succumb to another defeat.
Early thoughts on Liam Rosenior since being appointed Chelsea boss?🤔
His first sighting at Craven Cottage this evening
Fulham v Chelsea - Premier League
Photo by Vince Mignott/MB Media/Getty Images
👇 Join the debate; share your insight. Use the comment button on the bottom left to have your say
The red card is the obvious factor in determining the result, as is the golden form of Wilson. But according to Match of the Day pundit Stephen Warnock, it was Calum McFarlane’s inability to react.
What Stephen Warnock said about Calum McFarlane on MOTD
McFarlane had remained in the dugout after taking charge of Chelsea against Man City on the weekend. The Chelsea U21 coach explained that Rosenior did not want to interfere in the pre-match preparation.
Stephen Warnock.
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
But former Liverpool defender Warnock does not believe McFarlane reacted quickly enough to the red card. He said, on Wednesday night’s MOTD: “Nothing against Calum McFarlane, but he’s an U21 coach.
“Sometimes, U21 coaches can’t react as quickly in games. You get so used to watching games afterwards and then analyse… this is why these guys are at the top of the game, they analyse quickly in-game.”
Firstly, McFarlane has done a top job filling in while Chelsea found a replacement for Enzo Maresca and bridging the gap between the two managers. A point against Man City, and a difficult Fulham clash.
Chelsea, at one point, looked like they might go and beat Fulham with 10 men. The substitutions made by McFarlane worked last night, like the introduction of Reece James. But Wilson is unplayable right now.
After the scenes at Fulham, where do Chelsea and Clearlake go from here?😬
Chelsea fans chant on Clearlake
Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images
👇 Join the debate; share your insight. Use the comment button on the bottom left to have your say
So Warnock’s criticism is left-field, it’s strange. But it’s also wrong – McFarlane reacted as quickly as he could, and he did so by removing Andrey Santos to bring on Jorrel Hato to play on the left of defence.
On Chelsea’s YouTube, McFarlane explained the process of going more compact: “It completely changes our game plan in terms of how we want to go and control, and attack. We made a few changes.
“We wanted to be more compact. We wanted to make sure that their extra man was their centre-backs, not in between the lines or the top lines, we had to be more negative, defensive, wait or counter attacks.”
Clearly, McFarlane made changes beyond simply removing a midfielder and bringing on a defender. There were tactical tweaks, too. These changes were made instantly, contrary to what Warnock claims.
Join Our Newsletter
Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox