Mauricio Pochettino is under increasing pressure as Chelsea’s under-fire leader watches his team wreak havoc at Stamford Bridge, where Matheus Cunha scores a Hat-Trick.
Almost astonishingly, Chelsea has managed to sink to new depths in this season of turmoil and self-harm. They will find oil before their campaign ends if they continue to descend at this rate.
They lost humiliatingly for the second time in as many games, this time against a team other than Liverpool at home, and they let in four goals. No, they were playing in their own home court against a team that is just excellent overall, has excellent coaching, and is focused on a single goal.
Therein were the main distinctions with Chelsea. Their team lacks moral fiber. A noisy, argumentative squad. The squad was reduced to a shambles by the wolves because they lacked competent commanders.
Mauricio Pochettino’s job is in jeopardy after this crushing defeat; the situation is no better under his leadership than it was under Graham Potter’s. Both the numbers and the performances support the idea that this was among the worst of its kind.
We are all aware that Pochettino is only the manager at the heart of Chelsea’s difficulties, but the fools who have allowed the club to deteriorate will also be deciding his fate.
One bright spot for Pochettino is that the growing vitriol from Chelsea fans is still mostly directed at the players and ownership. For the time being, it will do, but it’s only a temporary fix, especially considering Chelsea were lucky to score only four goals against Gary O’Neil’s squad.
Talking about deflections would be a deflection in and of itself, but the first two were massive ricochets off Thiago Silva and Axel Disasi that made it 2-1 against Chelsea. Matheus Cunha, whose stellar season was capped off by a hat trιck, and the rest of Wolves’ scorers were rightfully rewarded.
They paid about £44 million to acquire him; at Chelsea’s valuation, he’s probably worth at least £500 million. In this match, he and Pedro Neto—who contributed to the second and third goals—were outstanding.
Wow, Chelsea! What a disаster. They were hopelessly destitute before Cole Palmer put them ahead, and they were hopeless after. They were arguing all afternoon long because their play lacked style, they gave the ball away too easily, their full backs had too many holes, their runners were untracked, and their challenges were too feeble.
This is Disasi and Silva. Chen and Ben Chilwell. Raheem Sterling and Chilwell. They were twice as weak as Chelsea needed steel links and looked like a daisy chain of sulkers.
Moises Caicedo exemplifies a team that struggles to maintain stability. In addition to providing a fantastic assist for Palmer’s goal, his negligence also allowed Cunha to equalize for 1-1. He represented a group that couldn’t proceed from one admirable deed to another, and that’s not even taking into account the mistakes he managed to get away with.
Even if Chelsea can still win the Carabao Cup and save their season, they are stumbling their way to Wembley only a week after it appeared like things were starting to turn around. This was even worse than the Liverpool loss, which disproved that idea; they let two shots go in the first three minutes because they lost possession of the ball carelessly in their own half.
They were able to gain a lead despite the internal wrangling that began at the 15-mark. The architect, Caicedo, had a weighty and strategically placed delivery behind Toti, and the finish, as befits Palmer’s extraordinary artistry, was impeccable. Cunha leveled within three minutes, so that was the best that could be done.
The mistake was caused by Chelsea’s carelessness once again; Caicedo was fouled while in possession around the halfway line. The counter-аttаck was spearheaded by Joao Gomes, who slid the ball to Cunha on the left and, after a powerful deflection from Silva, beаt Djordje Petrovic.
Although Pochettino’s research will probably reveаl how Neto was left unattended as he ran into the space behind Chilwell before squaring up for Ait-Nouri, the second one was more fortunate and involved less of his team’s involvement. It looked like the finish was going wide, but the ball was significantly redirected again, this time by Disasi. As an own goal, it was assigned.
The second half was defined by Chelsea’s use of the shoulder to evade challenges, with Malo Gusto twice taken out in a single sequence. The third goal continued this trend, with Cunha scoring after Silva was easily pushed off by Neto while on the run. After Gusto made a foolish tackle, he was awarded a penalty, which he converted to complete his hat trιck.