Chelsea will now prepare for a dreaded trip to Villa Park to take on Unai Emery’s Aston Villa in an FA Cup replay on Wednesday night.
At the weekend, Mauricio Pochettino watched his Chelsea players concede four goals for the second game running, this time getting slapped by Wolves after being humiliated by Liverpool.
Tim Sherwood labelled those donning Chelsea colours a ‘disgrace’ and ‘bang average footballers’ who have been handed long-term deals, as he told Sky Sports News (06/02/24 at 7:40 pm).
The former Premier League title-winner also expressed his shock at players like Reece James, Levi Colwill and Conor Gallagher wearing the captain’s armband when players like John Terry ‘earned his stripes’.
It’s a mess from top to bottom at Stamford Bridge and it’s not been helped or aided by the fact that Todd Boehly has spent £1bn on the squad.
All of that proves that money, and splashing it around without a care in the world, means absolute jack and it doesn’t necessarily take you forward.
For Chelsea, it has taken them backwards without any signs of stopping and Tim Sherwood issued his rant live on Sky on Tuesday night.
Chelsea declining under Mauricio Pochettino
“There is a serious problem at that club,” said Sherwood. “One of the things he (Pochettino) needs to overcome is that this is a different Chelsea. This is not a Chelsea that a lot of these fans remember when they were winning titles. This is a development club now.
“They are giving armbands to the likes of Reece James when he is fit, if it’s not him, then it’s Colwill or Gallagher. We never saw that. We saw it with John Terry, but he earned his stripes. He was there. The Frank Lampard’s. Didier Drogba’s. Petr Cech’s. They had a cartel there. A group who knew what it took to play for Chelsea.
“None of these boys know what it’s like to play for Chelsea. They have to earn the right. Perhaps, in time, those academy boys might be able to – for many of these recruitments, it’s a scattergun approach. It’s disgraceful. Some of these footballers are bang average on eight-year contracts and a gazillion pounds. They should be nowhere near a Chelsea shirt. Nowhere near!”
Chelsea players need to take responsibility
Understandably, Pochettino is getting stick, fair enough! He is the manager and he can’t be immune to criticism here.
But the same was being said of Graham Potter, yet look how the team have performed since he was sacked, if anything, they have got worse.
So, sometimes, it’s best to take the limelight away from the manager and look at the players who need more heat put on them.
Their long-term contracts might be protecting them, but quite a lot of them are proving that they simply aren’t good enough to wear the shirt.
Summer signing Cole Palmer is probably the only exception because he has been outstanding following his move from Manchester City.
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