12.01.23 Fulham (a)

I remember feeling weirdly happy leaving the Amex Stadium in Brighton on October 31st, almost lucidly so.

Not because I was pleased with what I’d just seen. After all, this was Graham Potter’s homecoming against his former club and we’d just had to endure 90 minutes of pure torture which culminated in the same fans that once loved him singing “you’re getting sacked in the morning” as they put four past us in emphatic style.

Actually there was very little to happy about, we would have to endure a train back into Brighton City Centre before boarding a slow, ambling Thameslink service back into London Bridge station.

No, the reason I was happy was because I thought that there was surely no chance things could get any worse than what I’d just seen.

Unfortunately I was wrong. Thursday night saw us extend a torrid run of form which has now seen us just win one from the last eight. Not exactly the form of title contenders or indeed anyone with aspirations to finish in the top 10 of the Premier League.

I really really do want to enjoy these Thursday night games. In theory they should mark an excellent, slightly early start to the weekend but the last two weeks have really started to dampen my enthusiasm for them and our first Friday night game in years on February 3rd is leaving me with equally little optimism.

Fulham should, in theory, be a quite wonderful local derby. Just a few miles West up the River Thames and ultimately a completely harmless club, there is no bad blood between the sides. Not like the fiery Manchester Derby we have this weekend, Fulham and Chelsea have a relationship much like a significantly older brother would have with the younger one. After all, they hadn’t beaten us since 2006.

As I polished off a Nando’s in Earls Court, I remember how fitting I thought it was that I was drinking a Portuguese beer, Sagres, in honour of our new signing, and I dearly hoped that he would be able to give us a performance to remember.

I can’t really hold any complaints or grudges against Joao Felix, he certainly did. Just for all the wrong reasons and in a way so ridiculous and encapsulating of how little luck Chelsea have had over the past few months.

Anyway, the game itself. I was pretty chuffed last week when Aleksandar Mitrović picked up a yellow card in their 1-0 win over Leicester. The Serbian has looked dangerous every time I’ve seen him and 11 goals in 15 games has silenced many critics who said he simply couldn’t do it in the Premier League. Their best player gone? For me this was as good an indication we would get that we were in for a reversal of fortunes, he’s their talisman after all.

Walking through Bishops Park up to Craven Cottage, I was confident. I’ve only visited Craven Cottage once before. Back in 2014 to watch Scotland play Nigeria in an International Friendly to warm Nigeria up for the impending World Cup a month later. A game of minimal quality, best remembered for match-fixing suggestions which became even more suspicious when the Nigerian keeper did seemingly throw the ball into his own net…

The ground has changed a lot since then. The brand new Riverside Stand which does, funnily enough, run alongside the river now towers over the other more traditional stands. It looks very impressive, just slightly lop-sided and not really fitting in whatsoever with what is otherwise a charming stadium.

Nothing against Fulham, they’re a great little club, but the fact that there was one concourse for both home and away fans suggested this was a place that in all likelihood you won’t run into much trouble with the away fans. I’m not sure you could get away with that at White Hart Lane. Maybe the Emirates? Paradise by Coldplay booming out of the speakers pre-game did little to toxify the atmosphere.

The game itself started brightly. Joao Felix, our new superstar was simply electric and seemingly unawed at making his debut in the most competitive league in the world. Early on, he broke free using his pace and close control and squared the ball brilliantly to Kai Havertz. Unfortunately, the Silky German was exactly what we didn’t need at that point in time but a horribly mistimed kick at the ball did at least allow it to run through to Lewis Hall who fired a tame shot at Bernd Leno.

Hall had to score and I suspect this is why I now have a plastic chair shaped indentation on my right shin. (I know this is why.)

In the latest instalment of the Bernd Leno vs Kepa Arrizabalaga debate, in which both players have returned from the depths of second-choice keeper more times than I can count, it was the German who once again found himself wearing the Golden Gloves. He was excellent throughout the game and made some great saves to deny numerous Chelsea chances.

Trevoh Chalobah surely put in his worst performance in a Chelsea shirt. Someone who can normally be relied upon to put in a solid seven out of 10 performance was unfortunately at fault for their first goal. Failing to deal with the initial ball into the box and then deflecting Willian’s shot past a helpless keeper.

Willian helped set a new record, he became the 26th former Chelsea player to score against the team he once played for which really does just say it all. That means that almost every year you’re going to see a former Chelsea player score against us for the first time. What’s even more worrying is we’re signing more players than ever before, so it will be of no surprise to anyone when this rate increases exponentially over the following years.

Half-time thoughts: I really don’t like football anymore.

We started the second half with a point to prove. Koulibaly made his first positive impact in a Chelsea shirt for some time as he prodded home an equaliser shortly after half-time. We didn’t even get to see the ball hit the back of the net however as Bernd Leno came oh so close to saving it and only the goal line technology was able to reward us with the goal.

Joao Felix’s enthusiasm for having the ball at his feet was wonderful to see. Even prompting numerous renditions of possibly the least creative chant I’ve ever heard.

“Joao Felix. Woaaaaaah. Joao Felix. Woaaaaaah. He came from Portugal, he hates the Arsenal.”

I say that it was the least creative, it didn’t stop me singing it at least 20 times but I can’t help but think how Thiago Silva feels having the chant to his tune passed onto another player whilst he was still on the pitch.

As I was saying, Joao Felix’s energy was contagious. Unfortunately, for Kenny Tete’s ankle, this energy made him the unfortunate victim of a Joao Felix horror tackle which left the referee Peter Bankes with no alternative but to send him back to the Craven Cottage Cottage. It really is such a shame, Joao Felix played some of the best football I’ve seen from a player in a Chelsea shirt all year. We now won’t see him until February the 11th which yeah, isn’t great.

You’d be forgiven for thinking the bloke wearing a yellow in the Chelsea box was a pitch invader as Andreas Pereira’s cross sailed into the area. Sadly, I very quickly realised it was the Chelsea goalkeeper who has seemingly decided in recent weeks to see how many different types of crosses he can fail to claim in the penalty area. Already curious to see what he has in store for us against Palace.

The mood in the crowd at this point wasn’t great. Chants for both Tuchel and Abramovich were unnecessary and pointless and serve as nothing other than a kick in the teeth to both Potter and the new ownership. After all, they’re not actually being sung in support of either, merely a jab against the new project. Neither have been sung whilst we’ve been winning a game, and neither of the two figures will come back at any point.

I will happily confess I left the ground at this point and made my way back to Putney Bridge tube station. I refuse to chant for either of the figures and really just wanted to forget about what I’d just witnessed.

I just feel so sorry for Graham Potter. He has come into an impossible situation which is the result of years of mismanagement at the club. We went almost 6 years without a director of football / technical director figurehead and what you are now seeing is the result of just that as we slip further and further away from first place in the league each year.

Players added under the reigns of five different Chelsea managers all cobbled together into one squad with not a hint of balance or strategy seemingly behind any of it is hardly a recipe for roaring success.

I find it hard to believe that anyone was surprised to see Denis Zakaria, one of the only bright sparks in recent weeks, hobbling round the side of the pitch to the dressing room, requiring immediate treatment. How sad and damning it is that a loan player from Juventus, who has made just SEVEN appearances for the club, showed more heart and desire than a team full of players who have been here for years.

I honestly can’t even be bothered to talk about the majority of the more senior and seasoned players at the club at this point. I don’t think many of them care all that much and quite frankly I wouldn’t shed a tear if the majority of them aren’t a part of the squad next season. History dictates than in likelihood they will be.

I believe Graham Potter is absolutely, 100% the right man for this job. It’s a credit to the type of person he is that he came and clapped the away end after that shower of absolute rubbish. I won’t look at 2022 with rose-tinted glasses like so many have. Despite some difficult circumstances the football was torrid and this job is perhaps even bigger than any of us could’ve imagined. Stick with Potter for the rest of this season, give him an achievable target of a 6th-9th place finish and give him a full pre-season and transfer window.

Up next we have Crystal Palace at home, who haven’t been in the best form themselves. Now, more than ever, it is imperative we rally behind the team and go into next week three points better off than before.