Chelsea vs Southampton: The One Chelsea Lost At Home Again

That Bench Life

Saturday started well, didn’t it? The sun was shining, some of us enjoyed a bubbly libation before heading to the ground and the captain was reinstated into Chelsea’s back four. What could possibly go wrong? Nothing against Southampton who were fantastic last season, but there away record was literally on par with that of Newcastle’s before they got to Stamford Bridge. That means 10 actual Premier League games away from St Mary’s without a win. TEN!

For nearly the whole first half, it looked like Southampton may have extended that winless run to 11. But this is new and definitely not improved Chelsea we are talking about. Who decided to ‘fold like a cheap hooker who got hit in the stomach by a fat guy with sores on his face.’

While it’s en vogue to critique Branislav Ivanovic to within an inch of his life, he wasn’t the problem in that second half. John Terry - along with much of the team - wasn’t able to handle Sadio Mané. Terry can be excused on the off chance that he has bench sores, but still. The point of bringing him back in was to bring some semblance of a defensive line into the fold. You know, something new we haven’t really tried out this season. He and Mourinho have the international break to kiss and makeup so they can reimagine themselves as a dynamic duo to dish out whoopings to just about everyone else.

However, they will need to wield their power with caution as not everyone responds well to tough guy tactics. Case in point Nemanja Matic. Who once gloriously controlled Chelsea’s midfield with astounding ease. But tough love backfired. Finding himself on the bench did not give him a chance to think about what he’s done this season - and he found himself in the most shameful position of all — the subbed sub.

But to balance things out I’m going to actually reason out this start with something horrific - actual numbers. Feel free to skip ahead to when I have a whinge about the so-called support. Out of the 8 Premier League matches Chelsea have had this season - only 2 were horror shows for results — Palace at home and Everton away. Those exact fixtures last season saw us take 6 points. This season would be no points at all. Awful. Swansea at home, City away, and West Brom away garnered 4 points this year - exactly the same as last season. Arsenal at home, Newcastle away and Southampton at home saw Chelsea take 4 points both this and last season. Yes, it has not been pretty. Chelsea should be playing a lot better at this stage of the season. But the reality is only 2 of the 8 fixtures have actually seen us take less points than we had in our title winning season.

As for the ‘support’, by all means have a moan to your mates down the pub. Get in random and pointless arguments on social media. But when you’re in the ground, you’re not going to push the team into any sort of performance by booing them or singing about how sh*t they are. Spoiler, they are professionals they are painfully aware. And if they aren’t, you can be assured that Jose Mourinho will relay that very message to them.

As for the fans who so desperately want Jose Mourinho to be sacked - who would you actually bring in right now part way through a season that would do a better job than him? Genuine question. There are very few managers looking for work in October - and even fewer managers that have similar pedigree. Like him or not, the man is a serial winner who hasn’t found himself in his position before. He’ll find a way to work it out. Plus it would really reduce the entertainment value of press conferences should he go.

jb x