{"id":162944,"date":"2024-03-18T17:35:01","date_gmt":"2024-03-18T17:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/03\/18\/welcome-to-chelsea-the-most-confusing-club-in-english-football\/"},"modified":"2024-03-18T17:35:01","modified_gmt":"2024-03-18T17:35:01","slug":"welcome-to-chelsea-the-most-confusing-club-in-english-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/03\/18\/welcome-to-chelsea-the-most-confusing-club-in-english-football\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to Chelsea \u2013 the most confusing club in English football \u2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

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FROM STAMFORD BRIDGE \u2013 Chelsea are brilliant, terrible, fantastic and self-destructive in equal measure.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For a club that has won multiple Champions Leagues and Premier Leagues \u2013 in the recent past, as well \u2013 this is perhaps their most impressive feat. How a consistent contender has stooped to this level in a couple of years is incredible.<\/p>\n

Doubts about the club\u2019s vision under BlueCo and Todd Boehly\u2019s ownership won\u2019t disappear until they return to that former standard. Judging by the Blues\u2019 body of work since their takeover, this might not be for a while.<\/p>\n

Why\u00a0Chelsea\u00a0went in this direction remains unclear, and the confusion about their project has spilled over onto the pitch.<\/p>\n

The Blues reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup with a thrilling 4-2 victory at home to Leicester City on Sunday afternoon, but it was not a straightforward task for Mauricio Pochettino\u2019s side despite their dominance.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n

It was another manic day at Stamford Bridge \/ Mike Hewitt\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

\n

Chelsea raced into the lead through Marc Cucurella, who rounded off a swift attack which saw Nicolas Jackson frighten the pants off of Leicester\u2019s retreating defenders before crossing for the Spaniard to tap in at the far post.<\/p>\n

When Raheem Sterling was hauled down by Abdul Fatawu inside the 18-yard box, it looked for all the world that Chelsea would stroll to victory. But Sterling \u2013 for some reason instead of the usual Cole Palmer \u2013 rolled the penalty down the middle and goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk denied him.<\/p>\n

That brought the agitation out at Stamford Bridge, that tetchy feeling that has existed and grown in this part of west London in recent times. Sterling set up Palmer for Chelsea\u2019s second before the break but they were now in an irksome mood. It didn\u2019t help that goalkeeper Robert Sanchez \u2013 given a rare chance to impress to win back his starting role \u2013 was a bag of nerves even when he was never faced with any real danger across the 90 minutes.<\/p>\n

Chelsea\u2019s two-goal lead at half-time should have seen them to a comfortable victory, but this young and developing side still haven\u2019t figured out how to keep their composure for a full 90 minutes. This time, it was one of their more senior players in Axel Disasi who was at fault, scoring a calamitous own goal trying to pass back to Sanchez and not realising his goalkeeper was way off his line.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s been a consistent problem with this Chelsea team. No matter how great they can be, they\u2019ll\u00a0always<\/em>\u00a0find a way to gift their opposition a route into the contest.<\/p>\n

Stamford Bridge was now not just agitated, but furious. The 6,000 travelling Leicester fans shouted \u2018shoot\u2019 at Disasi every time he was on the ball, and he crumbled on each occasion, his error still clearly at the forefront of his thinking.<\/p>\n

When Stephy Mavididi cut in from the left and wrapped the ball around Disasi like a training cone and into Sanchez\u2019s top corner, the palpable angst turned into tangible fury. Chelsea supporters close to the dugout shouted obscenities towards Pochettino and his players, notably Sterling, who skied a free-kick into the upper tier of the Matthew Harding end just after Leicester were reduced to ten men and the tie seemed to be edging back the hosts\u2019 way.<\/p>\n

Pochettino\u2019s decision to bring off Mykhailo Mudryk first and not Sterling further stoked the fire. \u201cYou don\u2019t know what you\u2019re doing!\u201d was chanted across the three stands containing home fans. To the Argentine\u2019s credit, he did then hook the England winger and his substitutes \u2013 Carney Chukwuemeka and Noni Madueke \u2013 scored the stoppage-time goals that sent Chelsea to Wembley.<\/p>\n

This 90 minutes in particular was the perfect encapsulation of who Chelsea are right now. They are dashing and electric, exciting and watchable, but they will always be underpinned by their immaturity and emotion, their muddled search for cohesion. There has never been a project in football as paradoxical as theirs.<\/p>\n

Pochettino hasn\u2019t done a spectacular job in his first year in charge to this point, but few other coaches would find it easier in these circumstances. Perhaps the chaos of the journey is what should be embraced rather than believing in the promise of eventual glory \u2013 only one of these things is guaranteed with this Chelsea.<\/p>\n

<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FROM STAMFORD BRIDGE \u2013 Chelsea are brilliant, terrible, fantastic and self-destructive in equal measure. For a club that has won multiple Champions Leagues and Premier Leagues \u2013 in the recent past, as well \u2013 this is perhaps their most impressive feat. 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