Chelsea’s poor run of form in the Premier League continues as the Blues lost 2-1 to their neighbours Fulham at Craven Cottage.
The Stamford Bridge outfit announced Liam Rosenior as their new head coach on Tuesday. However, this game came too early for the former Strasburg head coach. Instead, the under-21s coach Calum McFarlane took charge, coaching the first team for the second time in 3 days.
The Blues looked dangerous early doors, and they came close to scoring multiple times, especially when Andrey Santos hit the post from a corner kick. However, things took a turn for the worse when Marc Cucurella was sent off for fouling Harry Wilson outside the penalty area and preventing a clear goalscoring opportunity in the 22nd minute.
After that period, Marco Silva’s side took full control, and the visitors struggled to get a hold of the ball or get out of their own half. Fulham were awarded for their efforts when Raul Jimenez broke the deadlock in the 54th minute.
Chelsea responded well after facing adversity, as Liam Delap put the ball in the back of the net 18 minutes later. The former Ipswich striker scored his first Premier League goal for his new club. However, having the extra man really helped the hosts, and the in-form Harry Wilson put the dagger in Chelsea’s hearts in the 81st minute.
Chelsea’s disciplinary issues continue
It has been a tall task for the Stamford Bridge outfit to keep their heads and be disciplined this season. After Cucurella’s sending off, the Blues have now received 5 red cards in 21 Premier League matches. The lack of experience and maturity in the squad has really come back to haunt the Club World Cup Champions during this league campaign.
It is vital to acknowledge that the Blues have the youngest squad in the top flight, so the players struggling to keep a cool head is not something that has come out of the blue. Chelsea this season has a history of shooting themselves in the foot and being their own worst enemy. The red cards that they have got this season have come from making avoidable mistakes and putting themselves in a massive hole. For example, Trevoh Chalobah's sending off against Brighton came because of **Andrey Santos**’s poor pass.
In this match against Fulham, the entire Chelsea team switched off after Bernd Leno claimed a cross, and as a result, Harry Wilson found himself one-on-one with Robert Sanchez. Being overly aggressive, making catastrophic individual mistakes and losing concentration are three gigantic factors that have led to the Blues getting plenty of red cards and having a massive discipline issue.
In fact, Chelsea have picked up more red cards than any other Premier League side this season thus far. One of Rosenior’s key aims should be to find a way to make his new side more mature and to get his players to control their emotions.
After only winning one of their last nine Premier League matches, Chelsea’s chances of finishing in the top four have taken an enormous hit. After Chelsea drew with Arsenal at Stamford Bridge, they were six points behind the Gunners and only one point behind Manchester City.
The Blues were sitting on 24 points in third place. Fast-forward eight matches later, the new head coach’s side has only picked up nine out of a possible 24 points, and Chelsea have slipped down to 8th in the table. They are only five points ahead of 15th-place Bournemouth and could go six points behind Liverpool, who are currently in 4th place, if the Reds manage to beat the league leaders Arsenal at the Emirates on Thursday.
Liam Rosenior has a massive job on his hands. The 41-year-old has to hit the ground running right from the get-go. Otherwise, Chelsea’s hopes of finishing in the top 4 will totally slip away from their fingers.
Various major media sources like the Guardian, BBC and others have stated that the Blues hierarchy believes that their squad is good enough to reach their season objectives. As a result, the club is not actively looking to strengthen the squad in the January transfer window.
Rosenior is under immediate pressure to do everything in his power to turn the season around and get it back on track after his new side fell off a cliff in December.
Otherwise, the Stamford Bridge outfit will miss out on the Champions League, which will be a big blow financially, because the club spent around £276 million during the 2025 summer transfer window.
Pedro Neto’s underwhelming performances continue
The Portuguese international continues to be trusted by his coaches and is a regular starter. However, despite this, he has not repaid the faith that his former manager Enzo Maresca and Calum McFarlane showed in him. It is crystal clear to see that the winger is totally out of form. The former Wolves forward is very one-dimensional, and as a result, opposing full-backs are reading him like a book.
There were so many instances, particularly in the second half, where he had an opportunity to take the game to Timothy Castagne and put him on the back foot. However, the 25-year-old either put in aimless crosses into the box or played in a negative manner by consistently slowing down the play and passing backwards.
Despite having eight goal contributions in the Premier League thus far this season, those stats are papering over the major cracks. This is because the forward’s all round performances have been very underwhelming for the most part and have left a lot to be desired. It is also fair to say that other wingers like Alejandro Garnacho and Jamie Gittens have not grabbed the Premier League by storm.
However, out of all the wingers that the Blues have at their disposal, the Portuguese is the most experienced of the lot. Despite this, he has been unable to play at a high level and to be an example for his younger teammates. As a result, a portion of the Chelsea fanbase has been asking for Estevao to get a lot more game time and potentially even replace Neto in the starting eleven.
Chelsea continue to be a threat from set- pieces
The Blues have scored 14 goals from set pieces during this Premier League campaign thus far. The Blues have only scored one fewer goal from this category compared to the leaders, Arsenal, who have 15 as of this current moment.
This season is starting to go south for the Blues, but one silver lining is that they are always putting opposing keepers under pressure from set pieces. In the loss to Fulham, the Blues came close to scoring a handful of times from corner kicks before Delap managed to take advantage of one in the 72nd minute.
Set-pieces are becoming an integral part of the sport particulary in the Premier League, and causing a threat from those situations can win any team football matches or get them back in the game.
Despite falling short against Fulham, the Blues used corners to their advantage, and that’s how they got themselves back in the game. The former Brentford set-piece coach, Bernardo Cueva, has done a magnificent job during his time at Chelsea football club, especially on offensive set-pieces. The Blues have taken a major step in the right direction in that category.
Liam Rosenior’s side has to use this to their advantage, particularly when they are struggling to score from open play. There could be times when his side is unable to break down low blocks, and set pieces can be the difference between gaining or dropping points, especially against compact and robust opponents.