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Although Chelsea avoided a total demolition of their chances of finishing in the highest eight places of the Bigger Cup group stage, they executed a targeted blow on their own chances of automatically qualifying for the knockout stages. Of course, the silver lining is that in the short one-year history of the recently revamped tournament, achieving a place in the top eight isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

The Central Issue: A Monotonous Lack of Consistency

Sadly for the club's supporters, the only consistent thing about Enzo Maresca’s side is a reliably erratic lack of consistency, which has been much remarked upon following their defeat in Italy. After seemingly confirming their quality with an impressive beat-down of Barcelona, followed by a feisty stalemate with a London rival, the team have been defeated 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 eager to point the finger on a selection policy that seems to see Enzo Maresca rotate his team constantly, the Chelsea head coach insists that, knack and naughty step permitting, the core of his starting lineup for games against strong opposition is largely set in stone.

“In my view tonight, starting team, we had on the field eight, nine players that play against Tottenham, they played against Barcelona, they played against Wolverhampton, Arsenal,” he stated. “There were eight, nine players that are the ones consistently selected for these kind of games. So if you look at the several alterations that we did compared to Bournemouth game, it’s different.”

The Path Forward

For a genuine opportunity of escaping the additional knockout round, they will have to be victorious in their final two group games. First up, they welcome the unexpected contenders a Cypriot team, before heading back to the continent to face the Italian title holders, the Neapolitan side.

“We need to win both, if not, we will face the extra round and then go to the following stage,” sniffed Maresca, whose next appointment is a game against an Merseyside team whose current form has propelled them to the dizzy heights of the top half in the Premier League.

Other Notes

Quote of the Day: “You know, it’s somewhat ironic 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 teeing off rather than scoring goals in the Premier League.

Readers' Letters

“Well, no wonder Wolves are in such a poor situation. As any longtime reader of this email will know, the only effective pre-match protests involve walking from a pub that the supporters planned to be at anyway, to the stadium 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” – one reader.

“I note that a reader not only got Tuesday’s featured letter, but also a name check in a separate letter. On a night where both clubs from Sheffield again surrendered points after leading, I am led to ponder: could the city be proving that the frequency of appearances in your letters section is inversely proportional to the value of anything our teams are achieving on the field?” – a different supporter.