10am on Monday came and went and there we were, at the very least it seemed like Graham Potter would be the manager of Chelsea Football Club for another week and a bit. There would be no choice but to get behind him and hope that we might finally find the spark to turn our fortunes around and I had no issue with that.
I’m happy to confess that I thought we’d lose yesterday. Having watched our performances recently I can’t help but feel that with every passing game the team lost more and more of it’s spark. Despite losing to Dortmund a couple of weeks back, we were the better side and I expected us to build on that performance for the following game against Southampton at home. We didn’t. We got outplayed at home by the worst side in the league and then repeated the performance away to Spurs last weekend.
Watching that game, and seeing a side with such little identity, it seemed obvious to me that we could expect a repeat performance against Leeds yesterday. I genuinely thought our players might throw the game in a last ditch attempt to get Potter out. I’m not sure whether the players had one eye on Tuesday’s game against Dortmund or not, but altogether the team seemed unified and had a clear inkling of purpose about them once again.
Waking up with a slightly groggy head and wanting to take advantage of a what was a beautiful Saturday morning, I opted to walk to Stamford Bridge from home. Taking just under an hour, this is something I’ll be aiming to do every game if I can because it’s such a pleasant and privileged experience and gave me plenty of time to think about the game ahead and all the horrible things that might happen in it.
Unfortunately Dad couldn’t make it to yesterday’s game. I’m beginning to suspect he has been receiving treatment from our own medical team as he was ruled out of attendance with a foot injury. That being said, I do fully expect him to be back and completing 90 minutes on Tuesday against Dortmund.
In his place, we did a reshuffle of tickets to allow Alfie and his brother Charlie access to the game and we met sharply at midday to watch Manchester City take on Newcastle. It’s strange to watch other Premier League games right now as a Chelsea fan because in all honesty, there’s not really any games that can have an impact on our position in the league whatsoever.
Yesterday, both Newcastle and Spurs slipped up in their own race for Champions League qualification but the results near enough meant nothing to us. It’s so frustrating to look at the league table now, because just a couple more wins in the last six or so games would’ve left us in a fight for European football. In reality, this is nothing more than a pipe dream and the mountain is simply too steep for us to climb.
The line up from Graham Potter was very close to my prediction and the group was particularly happy to see the return of a back three. There are so many misconceptions about this sort of formation, and from my point of view it has always been where we look at our best as our full backs are released from the shackles of a back four, and given free reign to maraud up and down the pitch. With Reece James and Azpilicueta both out injured, Ruben Loftus-Cheek was seemingly our only option to play down the right side and he took advantage of the opportunity with a solid performance.
There was definitely an air of desperation in and around the ground yesterday. Our current form is pretty unprecedented in the Chelsea we’ve seen since 2003 in particular. A loss without scoring yesterday would’ve been the fourth in a row and you’d have to go back as far as 1929 to repeat this. Not great.
In general, I felt that the game drew several parallels to the Dortmund away fixture in the sense that we were all over Leeds for the first half hour or so. The atmosphere was reflective of this and it was great to hear such invigorated passion from the crowd. It’s such a shame this isn’t such a regular occurrence. I think it’s fair to say that it should be down to the players to ultimately give us something to cheer for, whether it be a good press or a nice piece of play, and the reality is that this simply doesn’t happen enough given how poor we’ve been the last few months.
Kai Havertz and João Félix came closest to breaking the deadlock. Once the game settled down a bit though I felt our heads dropped somewhat, and Leeds grew back into the game before half time.
I really really enjoyed the back three of Wesley Fofana, Kalidou Koulibaly and Benoît Badiashile and I thought that all three were exceptional. Koulibaly and Fofana will be starting together at the back on Tuesday night and I couldn’t have thought of a better performance to warm them up for proceedings. All three were dominant.
I’m aware that we’ve had a couple of issues at the back this season, but in reality it seems silly to focus on this as a problem point given we statistically have one of the best defences in the league. The reality is, our attack has been so poor that the defence simply can’t afford to let in goals or we won’t get a result out of a game and that isn’t fair.
I said last week that if we can keep Fofana fit, he’ll be an unbelievable asset to the team. Yesterday gave us another taste of just how good this guy can be. He put in an outstanding performance and I once again find myself praying that we keep him fit. It’s a quite wonderful thought that he has another year of mentoring from Thiago Silva to go and I have no doubt that he’ll be one of the best defender’s in the world if his body allows it.
The relief around the ground when we actually scored a goal was palpable and we’ve now levelled February’s total. I just hope we build on this tally come Tuesday. Chants of “We’ve scored a goal!” echoed around the ground for a good few minutes after the opener.
Enzo Fernandez was brilliant once again. Given he’s just 22 years old he’s a truly exceptional talent whom I have zero worries about. The way he carries himself on the pitch makes him seem destined to be a leader in the future whether that be with us or Real Madrid. It’s silly that it’s taken this long for him to win his first game with us but at full time he made an effort to applaud all four corners of the ground which is a nice touch even if it really seems the bare minimum.
We did struggle a little bit towards the end of the game and the fact we failed to score a second goal did put a huge amount of pressure on our defence. Ultimately, they coped with it well and Leeds were only afforded a few half chances. The roar at full time was one of slight sarcasm but ultimately an incredibly relieved crowd. The fact that so many stayed until the final whistle demonstrated how tense the occasion was. Usually you’d expect numbers akin to a large fire drill spilling out from the ground in the closing minutes of the game.
Quite why the person behind me had attended the game I do not know. I’ve often read about people who have had the misfortune of sitting near someone who views themselves as a footballing prophet, sent down from above to change the very way we see football. I’d consider myself fortunate to have almost entirely avoided this until yesterday. However, the guy behind me saw fit to moan about the entire second half, questioning every single decision that Graham Potter made. I strongly suspect that if his train had been delayed going to the game, it would’ve been Graham Potter who was at fault for it in his eyes.
Somehow, I managed to bite my tongue and persevere through the second half but I cannot stress just how annoying this idiot was. There was a few comments from others direct at Potter which I considered to be entirely unnecessary. It’s okay to be unhappy at the position we find ourselves in current, but once you’re in the stadium and in front of the players you have to leave those feelings behind and support the team. Even more confusing, we didn’t play half bad at times yesterday, so the criticism was even more unwarranted.
It feels strange to be writing this blog now having actually won a game. I’m so used to discussing and moaning about what has usually been a very angry day out. I think it’s fair to say that celebrations after the game were fitting for a side that has won just two games in 2023, but why not? My body is feeling a little bit worse for wear right now but it was definitely worth it and even Arsenal’s outrageous comeback against Bournemouth did little to dampen my spirits.
Up next, we have Dortmund which could, in all honesty, be the last game we play with actual meaning this season. I liked what I saw yesterday, and I firmly believe that this group of players will rise to the occasion. Tuesday night, under the lights. Can’t wait.
See you then.
The Shed Diaries 