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While The London club avoided a total demolition of their hopes of ending up in the top eight of the Bigger Cup opening phase, they executed a precise, surgical strike on their own hopes of waltzing straight into the knockout stages. Of course, the good news is that in the short one-year history of the recently revamped competition, securing a top-eight finish isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

The Core Problem: A Predictable Lack of Consistency

Unfortunately for Stamford Bridge regulars, the only consistent thing about the Chelsea team is a monotonously predictable lack of consistency, which has been much remarked upon since their defeat in Italy. Since seemingly confirming their credentials with an commanding victory of a European giant, followed by 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 been beaten by a average team from Serie A.

Although pundits have been quick to lay the blame on a selection policy that seems to see Enzo Maresca change his lineup incessantly, the manager maintains that, injuries and suspensions aside, the core of his first eleven for big matches is mostly fixed.

“In my view in that game, first XI, we had inside the pitch eight, nine players that featured against Spurs, they play against Barca, they play against Wolverhampton, Arsenal,” he droned. “There were most of the regulars 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 previous game, it’s different.”

What Comes Next

To have any realistic chance of avoiding the Bigger Cup playoff round, Chelsea will have to win their final two group games. First up, they host the unexpected contenders a Cypriot team, before heading back to the continent to face the Italian title holders, Napoli.

“Victories in both are required, if not, we will face the playoff and then progress to the next round,” remarked the Italian coach, whose next appointment is a match against an Everton team whose recent consistency has propelled them to the dizzy heights of seventh in the domestic league.

Side Stories

Quote of the Day: “It's interesting, it’s actually funny because his greatest wish was me turning pro in golf. That was his biggest dream. So when I was 10, he pushed me to start on golf. So I practiced every week from when I was 10 to 13” – a star striker explained how, had his dad got his way, he could have been on the golf course rather than tearing it up in the top flight.

Fan Correspondence

“So, no wonder Wolverhampton Wanderers 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 public house that the supporters planned to be at anyway, to the stadium that they were inevitably going to. Just arriving 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 letter o’ the day, but also a mention in another reader's letter. On a night where both Sheffield teams once more surrendered points after leading, I am wondering: could Sheffield be proving that the regularity of representation in your mailbag is inversely proportional to the success of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – a different supporter.