Graham Potter and Chelsea were dragged right back down to reality over the weekend as Brighton & Hove Albion ran out 4-1 winners down south.
The Seagulls were firing on all cylinders at the AMEX Stadium against their former boss and the Blues paid the price for an incompetent performance. The defeat and results elsewhere meant Potter's side are now sixth in the Premier League - three points off Newcastle in fourth.
Whilst the Chelsea boss refused to slam the panic button after the lethargic performance, many players have faced criticism for their displays against a side that had no win under their new boss Roberto De Zerbi. The performance has just piled on the pressure on Todd Boehly to add more quality to Potter's side in the January transfer window.
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Boehly spent over £270 million in his first transfer window at the club and it's likely that further investment will be made in January. However, two players purchased in the summer have been criticised after their recent performances for the Blues.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Marc Cucurella have struggled to adapt to life in west London after their moves from Barcelona and Brighton, respectively. Aubameyang has scored only three goals in 11 appearances this season while Cucurella has failed to hit the performance levels reached under Potter at Brighton.
And former Blues striker Tony Cascarino has questioned the pair's quality after arriving for a near-combined £70 million. "I'm not even sure Aubameyang is a player Chelsea will be looking at into next season," he told talkSPORT.
"I think what will happen is what happened to him at Barcelona. They brought him to the club, got a big signing, then realising quite quickly they need to move away to a better striker.
"I think Chelsea will have to do that as a football club. They'll come away from Aubameyang by the end of the season and they'll look for an alternative without a doubt."
Cascarino also pointed out Cucurella's struggles at Stamford Bridge after his £62 million move amid his first spell at a big club. He said: “Chelsea had mistakes everywhere. It’s hard to identify one player or go for a scapegoat. The whole team were well off their pace in the game.
“Even players like Cucurella [were] all over the place, he really was. He looked like he didn’t know where to be.
“He’s a £62million signing that Chelsea have made. He may have suffered because Graham Potter brought him off before half-time [against Manchester United] and changed systems with him.
“He looks like a guy that’s completely lost being at a big club at the moment.”
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