Is Chelsea’s Lack Of Discipline and Desire A Reason For Their Inconsistency?

Just as Chelsea looked to be turning their form around, with two positive performances away at Tottenham and at home to Manchester City, Mauricio Pochettino’s Blues completely lost their heads in their 4-1 defeat away at a struggling Newcastle United, who were dealing with injuries to players such as Harvey Barnes and Callum Wilson.

What is even more damaging about that defeat, is the fact that the Blues will be without Reece James, who picked up two yellow cards, and will now miss the potentially crucial game at home to Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday.

Chelsea’s form has somewhat been patchy in the sense that they just aren’t able to string some positive performances together. You would have thought that standing toe-to-toe with City and Spurs, may have been the turning point for Pochettino to stamp his authority on the team, but the lacklustre performance in the second half at St James’s Park pretty much sums up the mood of the team.

Moreover, the Chelsea Boss criticised his players for being ‘soft’ in terms of their performance against Eddie Howe’s Magpies.

“Even if Newcastle weren’t great, it was an easy win for them to prepare for the Champions League. We had to show that it’s going to be difficult for them to play, to win the game and to beat us. “But it was really easy in the way that we conceded and the way that we were so soft in every single challenge. “That’s what makes me angry and disappointed. We talk about being a young team and we have to learn, but I think these type of games make me very, very, very, very, very angry because it’s about showing your personality and character. “OK, we are young as a team, but we cannot lose this type of opportunity to show our best.”

Pochettino: BBC Sport

Now that sounds like a Manager who is A, panicking, and B, beginning to lose faith amidst the players and the dressing room, which generally leads to his departure from the club, and given that Pochettino is now the fifth manager for Chelsea under the Todd Bohely era, can they afford to keep doing this?

Jackson and Sterling Showing signs of improvement

But it’s not all doom and gloom for Chelsea, as there are now some signs that Raheem Sterling and Nicholas Jackson, are starting to show some signs of their goal-scoring threat, but when your defence is as shaky as they have been in constantly leaking goals after goals, as Robert Sanchez just three clean sheets in 12 games, it puts even more pressure on the attacking players to not only look for goals, but help out with the defensive side of things.

Silva is Nowhere near World Class

What was even more alarming, was the attitude of Thiago Silva, who looks far from the player we saw at PSG, and the third goal scored by Joelington sums that up.

There are times when it feels like he is still playing in Ligue 1, where the pace of football is much slower than the Premier League, but that can’t be an excuse, as a world-class, experienced defender, you should be able to adapt to a different league.

Take Ruben Diaz and William Saliba as an example, coming from Portugal and France, look how quickly they have adapted not just to the physical nature of the Premier League, but the speed at which the game is being played.

And that is what Pochettino needs to install in the Brazilian’s game, it’s the ability to stay in the moment, and make sure you do your job.

Critical Christmas

As we head into December, things get even more difficult. Brighton, Manchester United, Everton, Sheffield United, Wolves, Crystal Palace, and Luton, are the next seven fixtures, that may just determine the future of Pochettino at Chelsea.

Even though the club spent £434.5million this summer, it doesn’t seem to have reaped its rewards, and you start to feel as if Pochettino is becoming like the previous 10 managers, who have dug a grave for themselves at Chelsea, especially when results have not gone in their favour, and have run out of ideas to solve it.

This is why it’s important for the players as well as Pochettino to dust themselves down, put aside their egos, and show some pride for the club in this festive period, a period which may well determine the Argentine’s future at Stamford Bridge.

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