Wednesday night saw another shocking result in the English Premier league, as Wolverhampton came from behind yo ensure that Chelsea doesn't get away with a point. I have always said, in the English Premier league, the presumed least team is just as dreaded as the team sitting at the top of the table, underrate any and you get paid in your own coins. Maybe they were too confident or maybe they had their mind fixed in their next game, which is against Manchester city.
They must have thought, "let's joke around with Wolves and be more serious with City," but wouldn't that be foolish, since it's all three points for each game. The hungry wolves came with some other plans for Sarri and his boys this time around. They allowed Chelsea dominate the morning and almost all the noon of the game, sitting and waiting for the right time to hot the blues.
Maybe if they had equalized before halftime, Sarri would have restrategized in the dressing room. Whatever their plan were, it turned out well and I think they just killed Chelsea's hope of gunning for the English Premier league title this season.
After all, Sarri has always played down Chelsea's status as title contenders, it's now time to accept it as a reality. It will sure take another world wonder for Chelsea to overcome City with the current 10 points gap in the league.
Personally, as a football analyst and blogger, I would say that the title hopes for Chelsea this season now beyond reach, because the Manchester City am seeing are not ready to share points any time soon, talk more of losing all 3 points. It's Chelsea's Second defeat this season, but trust me, it would have been better to lose these points at the beginning of the season than now. Maybe Arsenal can be a case study.
At the beginning of the season, I thought the blues will be that team to give the Citizens a run for their money, at least to the end of the season. However, recent events and tides have shown that my guess was just only good for a "guess" and nothing more, as Chelsea is currently behind City with 10 points gap.
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The Top Four Is Not Even Guaranteed For The Blues
The incumbent manager of Chelsea football club Maurizio Sarri may have been downplaying his team's status as title contenders, maybe he was playing a mind game. However, the reality of the moment is that to remain in the top four is far from certainty. Chelsea will have to be at their best to remain relevant in the English Premier league, as the battle to qualify for the Champions league is not even easy. Wolves just made them understand that yesterday.
Maybe Chelsea will need to change their playing mentality now, as it seems to have been exposed. Teams seem to have gotten used to Sarri's style of play and I think bringing in a bit of flexibility in the team's gameplay will help a lot. Why do I feel other teams have uncovered how to deal with Chelsea?
Well, I watched their match against Tottenham last Saturday, and Spurs had their tabs on Chelsea's star boy Hazard. The team is currently revolving the game around the Belgium captain, and once he is kept at bay, Chelsea's game plan becomes a bit watery. On Wednesday night, Wolves discovered Chelsea's thumbscrew too, and they did well in curbing and distorting Sarri's plan at Molineux.
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The Wednesday night clash with Wolves saw the Blues exerting unparalleled dominance in the pitch, but it seems the only assignment Wolves had in mind was to stop them from leaving the pitch with a point. If not for their laxity and complacency, Chelsea would have climaxed the night by celebrating Ruben Loftus-Cheek. He had opened the scoring to put Sarri's did on the lead, making it his sixth goal in seven matches for Chelsea. Am pretty sure Sarri will be wondering the point things started going awry.
Wolverhampton made smart use of their flank men, as this tactics was very instrumental in the build up to their all important second goal. Willian had lost possession cheaply to Mourinho, the drive led to Matt Doherty teaming up with Diogo Jota for the winning goal. I saw the disbelief on the faces of Chelsea fans, as they stared hopelessly into the sky, wondering the possibility of their title quest.
Chelsea was taken aback by the goal, as they have been dominating the game totally, and of course, had the possession in their favour. Sarri seems to have made five changes to the team that saw off Fulham at the weekend. Maybe he was reserving them for their upcoming duel against the league leaders at Stamford Bridge this Saturday, whatever the case may be, I feel this three points were as much important too.
Willian and Alvaro Morata seemed like they had conspired to waste balls against Wolves, as the duo wasted almost five clear cut chances that would have put the game beyond the reach of the home team. Hazard haven't been finding it easy in recent games, as he has been hit by goal drought for some time now.
The Belgium captain's goal drought have now increased to 11 games for both club and country, it's definitely not a good omen for a prospective world Best player. The blues are now sitting at the fourth position in the English Premier league table, two points behind Spurs who grabbed the whole three points against Southampton.
For me, Chelsea's hope of winning the League is dashed, and their new quest is to fight for the Top Four Spot. What's Your take on this?
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