While they had the opportunity to take important points in the race for the Champions League, Chelsea completely collapsed against Nottingham Forest. Yet opposed to a reshuffled formation which is in the fight for maintenance, the Blues showed nothing and were heavily beaten 3-1, to the point of disgusting some of the London supporters, who left Stamford Bridge before the end of the match. And after a season full of twists and turns where three coaches took charge of the team, the players are logically the first to be singled out.
Blues caretaker Callum McFarlane admitted “The result and performance are really disappointing. The first 15 minutes were unacceptable, the way the two goals were conceded put us in difficulty”. And while his group is heavily criticized, McFarlane is convinced that the negative spiral will end: “We see the guys every day and they do everything they can. We need to move on quickly and it’s about acting now. Is this a difficult team to coach? I wouldn’t say that. I don’t think we lacked effort or commitment.”.
Players singled out
But as far as the English press is concerned, it is above all the project which raises questions. “The project has failed, there is no attack, the defense is catastrophic and the midfield seems completely lost. You have to go to the owners and ask them what their plan is, because I don’t see one. We have overpaid second-rate players”could we read on the BBC. “They were beaten by the Nottingham Forest reserve team. Less than a year ago, however, they crushed PSG in the final of the Club World Cup. There is no connection between players and staff, nor between players and supporters.”added Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports.
“Everyone needs to question themselves, including me. We must find a way to do better. I pity the supporters; tomorrow we will see what went wrong. It’s difficult because I don’t think it’s about the coach. It’s about the players, it’s up to us to get our act together.”confirmed scorer Joao Pedro, while it would take a collapse of the competitors in the standings and a victory for Aston Villa in the Europa League final to hope to see Chelsea in the Champions League next season…
