Chelsea’s troubled season hit another low on Monday night when they were dumped out of the FA Cup at home to Manchester United.
It was another defeat for Maurizio Sarri which heaped fresh pressure onto the Italian’s shoulders regarding his future at the club.
While Chelsea have a Carabao Cup final to contest with Manchester City this Sunday and remain in the Europa League, many fans have considered this campaign nothing short of disappointing.
talkSPORT.com have looked at five things Chelsea must do in order to turn their fortunes around.
Play Loftus-Cheek and Hudson-Odoi
Both players are regarded as two of the brightest young talents in Europe, let alone at Chelsea, but they appear unable to convince Sarri of this.
The Italian seems at a continuous crossroads when it comes to making his mind up on both, in particular, Loftus-Cheek.
In October, Sarri said there is a ‘tactical problem’ with the player and he is struggling to fit him into the side – this after a Europa League hat-trick against Bate Borisov. Then in December, Sarri praised the midfielder saying he is a ‘great player who will be more important for the future,’ shortly after he netted the second in a 2-0 win over Fulham to take his goal tally in all competitions to six.
The 22-year-old entered this season off the back of a successful loan spell with Crystal Palace, enough to earn a place in England’s World Cup squad, yet his chances are restricted despite the fact he is clearly Chelsea’s best option from a central position.
Coincidentally, Hudosn-Odoi featured prominently in January, starting matches against Nottingham Forest, the Carabao Cup first-leg against Tottenham and then against Sheffield Wednesday.
In the same month Chelsea recruited Christian Pulisic and Bayern Munich stepped up their interest to the point the 18-year-old handed in a transfer request, strategically done to keep him at Stamford Bridge.
Since then, Hudson-Odoi has barely featured, despite his glaring talent, managing a mere 19 minutes. On Monday with Chelsea trailing 2-0 to Manchester United, Sarri left the youngster on the bench throughout, bizarrely bringing on Davide Zappacosta for the final 10 minutes.
Sarri’s stubbornness
“It is true I called him a genius but his genius is a bit one-dimensional. I saw him play in only one way,” said Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis back in July. The refusal by Sarri to rotate his squad is nothing new, but was perhaps overlooked in the early days of his reign, which had begun so positively, as Chelsea embarked on an unbeaten start.
The slump we are witnessing should come as no surprise, especially to those who had followed his spell at Napoli, where they were leading Serie A in February, before suffering an alarming dip in form from being overplayed and the replacements not sharp enough due to lack of minutes, eventually finishing runners-up to Juventus.
The trend is continuing this campaign as well, the likes of Kepa Arrizabalaga, Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger, David Luiz, Marcos Alonso and Jorginho have all been involved in the majority of matches this season and despite calls from disgruntled fans to rotate them, especially the final three names on that list, Sarri remains defiant. Substitutions are predictable long before a ball has been kicked, with Mateo Kovacic swapping with Ross Barkley, and Pedro exchanging places with Willian or vice versa.
Sarri has shown little interest in deviating away from those players or his favoured 4-3-3 formation, meaning Chelsea have been figured out on numerous occasions and the lack of imagination has resulted in nine defeats.
Put Kante back in his position
In the mind of Sarri, Kante is not out of position, in fact, he is apparently not suited to a position which has won him two Premier League titles at two different clubs and a World Cup. The high-pressing, quick tempo style, otherwise known as ‘Sarri-ball’ has been built around Jorginho and his ability to pass often, dictating play from deep.
In recent weeks, the Italian midfielder has been made the scapegoat for Chelsea’s struggles, and while both he and Kante are considered ‘defensive’, Jorginho lacks the awareness to read danger and does not have the natural instinct to cover areas or nullify a threat quite like Kante, thus leaving Chelsea exposed and exploited, as they were so ruthlessly in the 6-0 loss to Manchester City.
Find a replacement should Hazard leave
There is no getting away from the fact that Eden Hazard is the one truly world-class player at Chelsea’s disposal.
The Belgian has been the difference maker for the Blues on a number of occasions this season, think Watford away, Liverpool in the Premier League and Carabao Cup and so on.
Should he leave for Real Madrid in the summer, Chelsea must find a way of coping with the sizeable void his departure would create.
The signing of Christian Pulisic is an exciting start, but he is a Premier League novice and still unproven at the highest level.
While the likes of Liverpool, Tottenham and both Manchester clubs have more than one elite player, Chelsea are not as fortunate at this point and must be prepared to deal with a likely outcome.
The club mentality
Chelsea are rightly among football’s elite, a club deemed too big to fail, the best players must be signed and trophies won every season.
However, when all is not going accordingly, the answer in the past decade or so from those in power, is to act without delay and sometimes thought.
Sarri, like so many of the managers before him, is not without fault and his position is rightly under consideration, but the trend at Chelsea to appoint a new boss on a short-term basis with the view to instant success, is a vicious cycle that has created uncertainty and means those hired are under immediate pressure to deliver before the ink has dried on their contract.
There is no long-term planning allowed and the future of the club is changing year-to-year, as there is no fixed structure due to the inevitably of that change.
While Man City have the considerable financial backing from the Abu Dhabi group, they have also given time to Pep Guardiola to implement his philosophy and build a team which is reaping the benefits as a result.
Jose Mourinho is the longest serving manager under Roman Abramovich, three full seasons – his first spell – and it is unlikely Sarri will get anywhere near that time. Unless Chelsea address their desire for a continuous quick-fix, there will be problems for many years to come.