The international break has only just begun, and there’s plenty of time for bad news to come, but it’s so far so good for Chelsea.
This morning it was confirmed that Wesley Fofana’s injury problems weren’t serious, and that he would be available for France in this international break. Then this afternoon the double-edged sword from the FA was swung.
The BBC have reported that Chelsea will be charged for failing to control their players after a feisty game at Stamford Bridge against Nottingham Forest last weekend, which ended in a mass brawl in front of the benches.
Chelsea picked up 6 yellow cards in the game in total, the second time this season they’ve hit that number. That means an automatic charge and a fine of £50,000.
However the most significant news in terms of the footballing outcomes is that striker Nicolas Jackson will NOT face a ban, despite being caught on video giving Forest defender a slap in the melee.
He’s got off a little light, but in reality it was preposterous that two Chelsea players were booked to one Forest player following the scuffle, in which the only actual serious and dangerous action was the Neco Williams shunt on Marc Cucurella which sent him sprawling into his own manager and triggered the whole farrago.
Chelsea must get players in order – just like last year
Jackson will now be available for the game against Liverpool on the 20th October following the international break, a big boost given Cucurella and Fofana will both be suspended following their 5th booking of the season each.
Discipline in terms of silly cautions for dissent and petulant actions in the same vein were a real curse for this team last year, and Mauricio Pochettino grew more and more frustrated trying to sort it out.
Now Enzo Maresca seems to face the same challenge.