Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea got a reality check of just how far they are away from Premier League leaders Liverpool after getting thumped 4-1 at Anfield on Wednesday night.
Not many players, if any, can hold their heads up high because that was a disasterclass from minute one.
Steve McManaman stated that it’s ‘astonishing’ just how far Chelsea have fallen in these last two years, as he told Premier League Productions (31/01/24 at 10:35 pm).
But the one player, who the Liverpool legend thinks deserves praise, is Carney Chukwuemeka as he stated that he ‘played well’ from the bench.
You would imagine that the 20-year-old will probably be in with a chance of starting Chelsea’s Premier League showdown with Wolves at the weekend.
What’s alarming for the London club is that, if Wolves beat Manchester United on Thursday night, then they will move above Chelsea and drop them into the bottom half, before being able to push further away from them on Sunday.
All in all, Steve McManaman let rip at Chelsea and their decline, whilst praising Carney Chukwuemeka.
Carney Chukwuemeka’s cameo for Chelsea
“Chelsea, they didn’t run, they didn’t match Liverpool, they weren’t aggressive and they just didn’t fight,” said McManaman.
“Every duel Liverpool won. Every one-v-one, Liverpool won. They pressed as a team, whilst Chelsea pressed as an individual.
“They made changes and it carried on the same. Nkunku did okay. Carney Chukwuemeka played well when he came on in a cameo role.
“But I just think Chelsea are a million miles from two years ago when they played Liverpool twice in the final and restricted them to virtually no shots on target – the way they have got worse from then to now is astonishing.”
FA Cup replay and League Cup final
These are now two of the biggest games of Chelsea’s season. They aren’t going to get near the European places because they keep getting smashed around –
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Therefore, they have to win their FA Cup replay against Aston Villa at Villa Park, as well as the League Cup final against Liverpool.
But defeat in both, then the heat will seriously start to hit Pochettino in the Stamford Bridge kitchen because the fans will get on his back.
Can Chelsea really afford to keep sacking managers? They could under Roman Abramovich because they won trophy after trophy, now it’s mid-table finish after mid-table finish.
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