Why are Chelsea so inconsistent?

Karan Ahgun

— 3 min read
Why are Chelsea so inconsistent?

After showing glimpses of promise last season and winning the Club World Cup over the summer, Chelsea looked to be in a strong position to be securely in the Champions League places this season and some fans even put the Blues as dark horses in the title race. Chelsea have so far had very mixed results bur what could be causing this?

A 2-2 draw against Azerbaijani team, Qarabag, was certainly not on the cards before kickoff on Wednesday but that is the result Chelsea were able to muster after fielding a much-changed side. This was the 5th occasion where Enzo Maresca named a side with at least 7 changes to the starting 11 in all competitions, and this amount of rotation has been attributed to Chelsea's consistency issues. In total, Chelsea have made the most changes to their staring 11 across all competitions this season, with 85 changes in 16 games but there is a good reason for it. From competing and winning the Club World Cup, Chelsea players had a much reduced break compared to other Premier League clubs and the notion behind the amount of rotation Maresca does is to prevent his players from getting injured. Levi Colwill suffered a long-term knee injury in the early weeks of the season and Cole Palmer has missed a chunk of this season already with a groin injury. Missing two of his most crucial players has caused Maresca to tinker a lot with his team to find the right balance, and as a result of these changes, the team hasn't been able to get into a groove where they can consistently churn out results and performances.

Chelsea have also been plagued by disciplinary issues over recent games. They've collect 5 red cards already this season in a period of just over a month, and even Enzo Maresca has been sent off. The effect of being a man down in so many games recently has definitely had an influence of the inconsistency of results. Maresca needs to stamp down on the ill-discipline within his team if they want to have the best chance to win as many games as possible this season, but the manager may also put it down to a collective lack of experience. Chelsea have the youngest average starting 11 in the league this season, and whilst this fits with the vision of the club's strategy, it can also explain why results have been inconsistent. Young players are liable to dips in form, and that's why you need experienced players in your squad to keep them out of the firing line when their form drops.

Overall, the reasons for Chelsea's inconsistent results are a mixture of different factors. The mixture of consistent changes to the team, disciplinary issues, and a lack of experience at the top level are all reasonable factors as to why Chelsea have performed inconsistently so far this season. Their team is full of young players bursting with potential, and they may just need time and guidance to become consistent performers over a whole league season!

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