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While Chelsea didn’t completely torpedo their prospects of finishing in the top eight of the Bigger Cup group stage, they performed a targeted blow on their own chances of waltzing straight into the knockout stages. Of course, the good news is that in the short one-year history of the recently revamped competition, securing a top-eight finish isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

The Core Problem: A Monotonous Lack of Consistency

Unfortunately for Stamford Bridge regulars, the only consistent thing about the Chelsea team is a reliably erratic inconsistency, which has been widely discussed since their loss in Italy. Since apparently rubber-stamping their quality with an commanding victory of a European giant, and then a feisty stalemate with Arsenal, the team have been stuffed by a Championship side, played out a snoozy stalemate at Bournemouth and have now been beaten by a mid-table side from Italy's top flight.

Although critics have been quick to lay the blame on a selection policy that appears to see Enzo Maresca rotate his team incessantly, the manager maintains that, injuries and suspensions aside, the core of his starting lineup for games against strong opposition is mostly fixed.

“I think in that game, starting team, we had on the field eight, nine players that play against Spurs, they played against Barca, they played against Wolves, Arsenal,” he droned. “We had most of the regulars that are the ones consistently selected for these kind of games. So if you look at the several alterations that we did from the Bournemouth game, it’s different.”

The Path Forward

For a genuine opportunity of avoiding the Bigger Cup playoff round, Chelsea will have to win their remaining two matches. First up, they welcome the unexpected contenders Pafos, then travel back to the continent to face the Serie A champions, Napoli.

“Victories in both are required, if not, we will face the extra round and then progress to the next round,” remarked the Italian coach, whose next appointment is a match against an Merseyside team whose current form has taken to them to the dizzy heights of the top half in the Premier League.

Other Notes

Quote of the Day: “You know, it’s actually funny because his biggest dream was me turning pro in golf. That was his ultimate ambition. So when I was 10, he forced me to take up golf. So I practiced every week from when I was 10 to 13” – Erling Haaland revealed how, if his father had his preference, he could have been on the golf course rather than scoring goals in the top flight.

Fan Correspondence

“Well, no wonder Wolverhampton Wanderers are in such a poor situation. As any regular reader of this email will know, the only effective pre-match protests involve marching from a pub that the supporters intended to visit anyway, to the ground that they were always going to. Just showing up 10 minutes late? That’s how long it takes fans to get to their seats anyway” – a correspondent.

“I note that a reader not only got the previous letter o’ the day, but also a name check in another reader's letter. On a night where both Sheffield teams once more surrendered points after leading, I am led to ponder: could Sheffield be proving that the regularity of representation in your mailbag is inversely related to the value of anything our teams are achieving on the field?” – a different supporter.