Hung on the wall sweeping round the back of Stamford Bridge are portraits of Chelsea’s heroes, generally in the process of lifting silverware aloft. Peter Osgood, Gianfranco Zola, Didier Drogba, Eden Hazard: what a heritage it is. Supporters leaving the ground after yet another defeat on Saturday must have looked at the pictures and thought how they could use such talent right now.
Not just the supporters either. Their manager too. Bequeathed what looks increasingly like the most lop-sided squad in the club’s history, Mauricio Pochettino could really do with someone of that stature to put the ball in the net. And soon.
Because to describe Brentford’s third consecutive Premier League victory at the Bridge as another defensive masterclass by Thomas Frank is rather to over-state things. Defensive masterclasses tend only to be required against potent forward lines. Chelsea barely had a shot on target, never mind requiring their visitors’ shrewdly organised back line to do much in the way of last-ditch intervention.
Limp is the best description of Chelsea’s display, particularly after they had fallen behind to a goal by the brilliant Ethan Pinnock. The comical second conceded in injury time merely provided confirmation of inadequacy.
And it is becoming an all-too-frequent phenomenon for Chelsea, losing in front of the faithful. This is a team which has won just once in their last 13 Premier League home games, and who have beaten only Crystal Palace, Luton and Leeds at the Bridge in the league this calendar year.
“Yes, it’s something we need to fix,” admitted Pochettino of this wretched home form. “I don’t say I’m worried but of course we’re trying hard to find the solution.”
He says he knows what is required.
“We need time,” he says. “The team need to translate the idea of the fans. We have very talented players. Chelsea is about victories and a strong mentality to win. We need to match this level. It is not easy to build the trust. It is about the maturity we need to get. You need time. Only time, it is time.”
But, even as he said it, Pochettino must have known that time is the one luxury rarely afforded football managers. Particularly at the Bridge. At the moment, he has not lost the backing of the supporters in the way Graham Potter did a year ago. Sceptical as they may be of his Tottenham past, they recognise that he was put in charge of a squad that was assembled in such scrambled haste, nobody thought to buy a striker.
Well, beyond Nicolas Jackson, whose performance so irked a fan sitting behind the dugouts that Pochettino was obliged to intervene and suggest struggling players need support not chastisement. But when it comes to time, he is living on borrowed stuff.
Here is the manager’s problem, writ large against Brentford: he has a stockpile of the overpriced and under-achieving. Compare his squad’s performance to that of his opposite number and frankly it was embarrassing. Pinnock cost Brentford £3 million and was superb in everything he did; Moises Caicedo cost Chelsea £115 million and redefined the term anonymous.
Pochettino needs to get a tune out of his owner’s investment – particularly at home, where Todd Boehly likes to entertain his Wall Street chums – and fast.
Not that it will be easy. After this week’s Carabao Cup tie against Blackburn, his next five league fixtures are against Tottenham, Manchester City, Newcastle, Brighton and Manchester United. Lose those games in the manner of this defeat and time he talks of needing will be close to running out.
If only Drogba, Hazard and Zola were available to help.
