Maresca's Unceasing Team Changes Leaves Chelsea Spinning.

Although The Blues avoided a total demolition of their chances of ending up in the top eight of the Bigger Cup group stage, they performed a targeted blow on their own hopes of automatically qualifying for the round of 16. Of course, the good news is that in the brief history of the new and not-necessarily-improved tournament, securing a top-eight finish isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

The Core Issue: A Predictable Inconsistency

Unfortunately for the club's supporters, the sole predictable element about Enzo Maresca’s side is a monotonously predictable lack of consistency, which has been widely discussed following their defeat in Bergamo. After apparently rubber-stamping their quality with an commanding victory of Barcelona, and then a bad-tempered draw with a London rival, the team have been stuffed by a Championship side, played out a dull draw at Bournemouth and have now lost against a mid-table side from Serie A.

Although critics have been quick to lay the blame on a selection policy that appears to see Enzo Maresca change his lineup constantly, the manager insists that, injuries and suspensions aside, the nucleus of his starting lineup for big matches is largely set in stone.

“In my view in that game, first XI, we had on the field eight, nine players that play against Spurs, they play against Barcelona, they play against Wolverhampton, the Gunners,” he stated. “There were most of the regulars that are the ones playing every time for these kind of games. So if you see the several alterations that we did from the previous game, it’s different.”

What Comes Next

For a genuine opportunity of avoiding the Bigger Cup playoff round, Chelsea will have to be victorious in their final two group games. First up, they welcome the unexpected contenders Pafos, then travel back to the continent to face the Serie A champions, the Neapolitan side.

“We need to win both, if not, we try to play the playoff and then go to the following stage,” sniffed the Italian coach, whose following fixture is a game against an Everton team whose current form has propelled them to the surprising position of seventh in the Premier League.

Other Notes

Quote of the Day: “You know, it’s somewhat ironic because his greatest wish was me becoming a professional golfer. That was his ultimate ambition. So when I was 10, he pushed me to start on golf. So I played golf every week from when I was 10 to 13” – Erling Haaland explained how, had his dad got his way, he could have been teeing off rather than tearing it up in the top flight.

Fan Correspondence

“Well, no wonder Wolverhampton Wanderers are in such a poor situation. As any regular reader of this column will know, the only good pre-match protests involve marching from a public house that the supporters planned to be at anyway, to the ground that they were inevitably going to. Just showing up 10 minutes late? That’s how long it takes fans to get to their seats anyway” – one reader.

“I see that one correspondent not only got the previous featured letter, but also a name check in another reader's letter. On a night where both Sheffield teams once more surrendered points after leading, I am led to ponder: could the city be proving that the frequency of appearances in your mailbag is inversely proportional to the value of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – another fan.