FROM STAMFORD BRIDGE – Even before the second-half collapse, there was a strange malaise about Chelsea even early in their 4-2 loss at home to Wolves on Sunday.
Prior to Wednesday’s 4-1 humbling at Liverpool, Chelsea had at least shown signs of resilience and aggression since a testing festive period. They had embarked on a run of six wins from seven games since Christmas Eve before drawing at home to Aston Villa in the FA Cup a fortnight ago.
But those steady forward steps were reversed from the off against Wolves, who could have twice opened the scoring in the opening 120 seconds. Though the Blues would be the ones to break the deadlock, they would soon gift their visitors an equaliser, with Moises Caicedo – the architect of the opener – cheaply dispossessed in midfield.
Chelsea fans were angered by their side’s walking-pace build-up, and Wolves took advantage of both the widespread restlessness and languid on-field movement by adding a second, in-part thanks to a deflection off of Axel Disasi.
The hosts were booed off at the break and fans near Mauricio Pochettino’s technical area yelled obscenities at the players as they left the pitch. A sense of mutiny already threatened to boil over.
After the restart, Wolves added a third and the knives came out. Home supporters sang the name of former owner Roman Abramovich, who was ousted by the UK government after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – a detail which shouldn’t be forgotten – before then chanting ‘we’re f***ing s**t’ in joyful tongue-in-cheek glee. Malo Gusto then foolishly gave away a penalty and Wolves soon had their fourth.
Thiago Silva – whose wife all the while was cryptically tweeting about the club’s potentially dire future – scored from a corner but it did little to lift spirits around a rapidly-emptying Stamford Bridge.
There have been a lot of terrible Chelsea performances in Todd Boehly’s BlueCo era. There have been a lot of winless runs and dry spells. But none felt as tangibly catastrophic as this latest defeat.
Wolves picked up their first league win at Stamford Bridge since 1979, completing their first double over Chelsea since 1975. The Blues are on the receiving end of these kinds of feats at an alarming rate nowadays, similar to Manchester United’s immediate and sudden decline after Sir Alex Ferguson left.
Three weeks away from a cup final against the best team in the country so far this season, Chelsea have hit their lowest. Whatever good feeling or optimism had been salvaged by Pochettino’s project in recent weeks has evaporated.
A European finish via the Premier League is looking increasingly unlikely for Chelsea – even if they get their house in order, which is a huge ask as is, will they have enough to leapfrog at least four other teams between now and May? Winning the Carabao Cup could save their season, but it’s an almost impossible task and ask.
Pochettino has not shied away from football being a results business and the need to ensure Chelsea don’t finish as low as 12th in the Premier League again. He is already running out of time to prove he’s the man to fix this mess.
