Oh, did you think things were bad at Chelsea when we wrote about the Blues two weeks ago?
Things have only gotten much worse.
The latest boiling point came on Sunday, when Kepa Arrizabalaga refused to be subbed off after suffering from some apparent cramps in extra time of the Carabao Cup final.
Maurizio Sarri was so furious that Kepa wouldn’t come off that the manager nearly left the sidelines for the locker room before thinking better of it. The keeper just kept on gesturing to the sidelines that he was fine and that he could continue while Sarri fumed before eventually relenting.
The real shame of it is that, tactically speaking, it was also a good idea by Sarri. Willy Caballero, Chelsea’s backup keeper, is a former Man City player and would presumably know player tendencies better than Kepa. He also a better career save percentage against penalties than the starter, 44%-34%.
Making the matter worse is that it was David Luiz, not the club’s captain Cesar Azpilicueta, that was standing with Kepa and telling the keeper to “respect the manager.â€
This is exactly the spot where the captain should be the ultimate go-between for a player and manager. It shows a complete lack of leadership and the Spaniard was rightfully ripped for it.
For what it’s worth, Kepa has been fined a week’s pay, as if that will make things right.
This incident and the loss – despite playing much better than the 6-0 drubbing at City’s hands a few weeks ago – marked the end of yet another terrible week at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea received a one-year transfer ban last week for violations regarding contracts for underage players. It’s a similar penalty to those served by Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
The timing really couldn’t be worse. With Eden Hazard almost certain to leave this summer, Chelsea won’t be able to bring in any replacement(s). That’s a rather large hole in its lineup that would be difficult to fill in the best of times. The club could appeal the ban, but even if it’s just one window that it sits out from, it would still mean a half-season of suffering.
As for Sarri, what’s next?
Literally, it’s Wednesday’s clash with London rival Spurs. After that, who knows?
Even the fans are revolting against so-called Sarri-ball. Sunday’s opposing manager, Pep Guardiola, said he felt bad for the Italian and that his side’s 6-0 win for causing is actually regrettable for accelerating this mess.
The smart money is that, sooner rather than later, we’re going to see yet another new manager patrolling Chelsea’s sidelines, trying to get this entitled, unruly group of players to function and play like the unit they are capable of being.
Who that poor soul will be is the big question now.
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PLAYER OF THE WEEK
The first big performance of last week turned out to be the best.
Gerard Deulofeu started the weekend’s games off with a bang, netting a hat trick against Cardiff City on Friday. The Hornets completely destroyed the hosts, scoring five goals before allowing a consolation marker to Sol Bamba.
The hat trick was the Spaniard’s first, finally showing some of the promise and potential he was thought to have while coming through the Barcelona system. While we’re pretty certain that he’s not going to be the next Lionel Messi – who also scored three this weekend – if the man called ‘Gerry D’ can play with consistency and score a bit more, he could quickly make people forget that he has played for five clubs over the past six years.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
VAR couldn’t come fast enough for Fulham. After watching Javier Hernandez score with his hand, the Cottagers had to be furious. West Ham would pot two more to get the win, but this most feel like a screw job to the visitors … Chicarito became the first Mexican to score 50 Premier League goals in his career and all 50 came from inside the box. The man’s a true poacher … Harry Kane is back, but it didn’t matter much. The English captain scored in his return, but Spurs couldn’t hold off red-hot Burnley – which hasn’t lost since Boxing Day … There’s so much American interest in Newcastle these days that NBC flexed in the Magpies game against Huddersfield Town over the much more interesting Bournemouth-Wolves tilt. With U.S. fullback DeAndre Yedlin and MLS import Miguel Almiron both starting, we could see Newcastle on North American TV more often going forward … Those tuning in for the Newcastle game got a rare sight: The Magpies went up a man! With Tommy Smith being sent off for a studs-up lunge, a Newcastle opponent was down to 10 men for the first time in five years … Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has taken 26 points from his first 10 games as Manchester United manager. That’s more than any other manager in Premier League history … Claude Puel has been relieved of his duties at Leicester City but the most intriguing news is his replacement: Brendan Rodgers. The former Liverpool and Swansea manager had been leading Celtic for nearly three years before getting the call back to the Premier League.
THE LAST WORD
So, just who exactly does a Manchester United fan root for in this title race?
On one side, you have Liverpool, United’s biggest rival which has yet to win a title in the Premier League era.
On the other, you have so-called noisy neighbours, Manchester City – the defending champs who like to rub it in the noses of their cross-town rivals.
This was a question brought up during Sunday’s lackluster United-Liverpool tilt which ended 0-0 to the excitement of nobody.
The answer is actually surprisingly simple: Despite City’s dominance of Manchester over the past five years, the hatred for the Sky Blues doesn’t come close to comparing to that for the Reds.
Hating Liverpool is ingrained in the souls of United fans. Being able to gloat about having the most top-flight championships in history and that Liverpool always slips up when it matters most is what drives United fans. They see City as a recent fad, only spurred to greatness thanks to the petro dollars its Sheikh owner has splashed on the club.
If you think that City-United is the fiercer rivalry than Liverpool-United, that’s like saying that the Leafs and Sens hatred goes deeper than Leafs-Habs. And that’s just wrong.