A second half comeback against Nottingham Forest earned Chelsea three points on Saturday. But what ended up being an easy win could so easily have gone another way.
Much like betting at the with best US sportbooks , watching Chelsea is a gamble right now. Even within the same game, we can see them put in a shocking performance individually and collectively and then turn things around.
Saturday’s game was a great example of that. It’s important to look at performances, not just results, and that’s true when you win as well as when you lose. Forest had the better of the first half, with Chelsea giving away multiple big chances. If their finishing had been a little better, they could have had a goal or two and the desperate crowd behind them.
Romeo Lavia, Josh Acheampong and Malo Gusto all made mistakes which could (and maybe should) have handed the opposition the advantage, and each were bailed out by teammates or good fortune.
Conceding would have been a very tricky situation for a fragile Chelsea to get out of. Instead, it went the other way. The Blues nod in a set piece, then score another, and suddenly the crowd has become a burden to the Forest players rather than a benefit.
Meanwhile Chelsea are flying. Enzo Maresca’s decisive subs added the force of nature Moises Caicedo to the middle and brought Joao Pedro more into the play where he could start causing some damage. Even sitting in the stands, the Italian coach was able to affect the game positively
This kind of flighty form might be enough to win you a Conference League or a one off final in the Club World Cup, but in order to win a Premier League we’re going to have to go to the next level. Dodgy spells in games can’t continue to be a regular occurrence. The first half we played against Forest can’t be repeated if we want to win titles, and the fact we ended up with 3 points shouldn’t distract us from that. The team simply didn’t look mentally ready for the game.
The positive signs are everywhere in this squad, but right now we’re in the same spot we were a year ago – full of potential and happy to show it in flashes, but unable to dominate games and teams to the level required to earn the 90 or 100 points it could take to win the league.
