Chelsea's current conundrum - Who is to blame?

Mess. That is pretty much what we are in right now. A mess. Three wins from the last ten games shouldn’t be the record of a team of Chelsea’s calibre. Results are totally going against us. Completely against us. If we continue on the path we are now, I don’t see us making the top four this time again. So, who is to blame? The manager? The owner, the players or the management?

When Roman hired Benitez against the will of the fans, it was obvious that Roman wasn’t such a good listener to his own club’s fans. Chelsea were just four or five points behind the leaders when Benitez became the interim manager of Chelsea. Now we are sixteen points behind the table toppers. Bad results were the reason why Di Matteo was sacked. If those were bad results then I wonder about the situation at the present. Aren’t these bad results? It’s true that we weren’t consistent from the start of the season. But now it’s a much worse situation. Even QPR can defeat Chelsea, that too at home. Defending has gone from bad to worse. We are losing crucial matches. We nearly escaped from the embarrassment of getting knocked out of the FA Cup against Brentford, thanks to the equaliser from Fernando Torres. That is not how Chelsea should compete in tournaments. We are a team who come out to win tournaments. We are not a team who barely survives against Brentford. That sounds like Liverpool.

Even the smallest of teams are finding loopholes in our defence line. I am not much of a tactician but I still can’t figure out why Benitez brought on Bertrand for Ashley in the second leg of Capital One Cup semifinal against Swansea. We were desperately in need of goals and Ashley is a much better offensive player than Bertrand in my opinion, with experience kept in mind. Another thing is lack of Ba’s and Marin’s activity in the game. I mean, the reason to start Torres over Ba against Reading is beyond me. And he didn’t even care to make a change. A change in the 89th minute is not enough if the scores are level. Certain poor tactics like those, lack of substitutions and inability to change game situations is why Benitez is not the man for Chelsea. No wonder he was jobless for more than two years. Sometimes, it even strikes me that Benitez is trying to ruin Chelsea on purpose.

I admit that players have failed to prove themselves consistently on the pitch from game to game. I also admit that we have a slight thin squad. But that’s what questions the activity of the Chelsea board. If we have a thin squad then why didn’t the board push for more transfers during the January transfer window? Why did we loan out such good quality players like Piazon, De Bruyne and Lukaku. Honestly, I don’t think Benitez uses the squad completely. Why choose Bertrand over Marin in the left wing position. If players under-perform, it’s the manager’s job to motivate them and make them play better because I know fans are doing their job perfectly during the games.

As a whole, Chelsea are in a big mess right now. And it would be difficult to come out of this. Even if Chelsea sack Benitez, what are the options to replace him? I know some fans fancy Terry for a player-cum-manager position, but we all know that’s not an idea worth considering. Also, we have sacked lots of good managers over the years, so much so that managers are reluctant to take up the Chelsea job. Roman’s ruthlessness has created a dark shadow on the Chelsea manager’s chair. So, who is to blame for putting us into this mess? I personally believe Roman and the management is to blame. They ignored the fans when they hired Benitez who has failed to prove himself with his poor tactics, which have led to very poor results.

I know some people might differ from my opinion. If that’s the case, then please do share your opinion in the comments below.

Chelsea Talk – Ahmed Alim (@Limmto)