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While The Blues avoided a total demolition of their prospects of finishing in the top eight of the Bigger Cup group stage, they executed a targeted blow on their own chances of automatically qualifying for the round of 16. Of course, the good news is that in the short one-year history of the new and not-necessarily-improved tournament, achieving a top-eight finish may not be as crucial as it seems.

The Core Issue: A Monotonous Lack of Consistency

Sadly for Stamford Bridge regulars, the sole predictable element about Enzo Maresca’s side is a monotonously predictable inconsistency, which has been widely discussed since their defeat in Bergamo. After apparently rubber-stamping their quality with an impressive beat-down 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 the south coast club and have now been beaten by a mid-table side from Serie A.

Although critics have been quick to lay the blame on a selection policy that seems to see the coach rotate his team like a kebab shop’s elephant leg of doner meat, the manager insists that, injuries and suspensions aside, the nucleus of his first eleven for big matches is largely set in stone.

“In my view in that game, starting team, we had inside the pitch the majority of the team that play against Tottenham, they play against Barcelona, they play against Wolves, the Gunners,” he stated. “We had eight, nine players that are the ones playing every time for matches of this magnitude. So if you look at the five changes that we did from the Bournemouth game, it’s different.”

What Comes Next

To have any realistic chance of escaping the additional knockout round, they will have to win their remaining two matches. In the first, they host the unexpected contenders a Cypriot team, before heading 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 progress to the following stage,” sniffed the Italian coach, whose next appointment is a game against an Merseyside team whose current form has taken to them to the surprising position of seventh in the domestic league.

Other Notes

Quote of the Day: “It's interesting, it’s actually funny because his biggest dream was me turning pro in golf. That was his biggest dream. So when I was 10, he forced me to start on golf. So I played golf every week from when I was 10 to 13” – a star striker revealed how, if his father had his preference, he could have been on the golf course rather than scoring goals in the top flight.

Fan Correspondence

“Well, no wonder Wolves are in such a poor situation. As any regular reader of this email will know, the only effective pre-match protests involve marching from a pub that the supporters intended to visit anyway, to the ground that they were always going to. Just showing up 10 minutes late? That’s how long it takes fans to get to their seats anyway” – a correspondent.

“I see that a reader not only got the previous featured letter, but also a mention in a separate letter. On a night where both clubs from Sheffield once more surrendered points after leading, I am led to ponder: could Sheffield be proving that the frequency of representation in your mailbag is inversely proportional to the success of anything our teams are achieving on the field?” – a different supporter.