Chelsea's own performances in the last five Premier League games would have been concerning enough for supporters.
But it was sitting down to watch Manchester City tear Leeds United apart on Tuesday evening with a 7-0 scoreline that brought home how big an obstacle Thomas Tuchel faces to overcome Pep Guardiola this season.
Chelsea needed two penalties to beat the same opponent three days earlier, with Jorginho's second from the spot coming in the 94th minute. Watching the Blues has felt like a slog in recent weeks, things that were coming easily to this team in November suddenly feels torturous.
Be that scoring goals, not letting them in or creating good opportunities the usual winter slog that drains Chelsea of expression has sadly returned for a fifth season.
But apart from mystical dark forces, bemoaning bad luck with injuries or the poor form of some players, looking more broadly at Tuchel's current struggles in comparison to his title rivals provides maybe a more logical conclusion.
Both Man City and Liverpool look unstoppable at the moment, winning their last five league games, a feat Chelsea have yet to match so far this season.
A title race containing three teams has been the accepted narrative in the opening months, though Chelsea only winning two of their last five has led to doubts the European Champions can maintain pace with the previous two title winners.
What City and Liverpool possess compared to Chelsea is a certainty.
They are two squads so perfectly refined under their coaches vision, the players are so well ingrained within the system. The attacking combinations come so naturally and whenever things go awry you feel both have successful traits they can fall back on.
Something Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp both have within their squads is the experience of going the distance in the title race.
A majority of their players have the experience of triumphing in a 38-game season, the peaks and troughs throughout that nine-month period which is an intangible experience previous Chelsea squads so naturally contained.
However, Tuchel picked up a squad in January whose Premier League goals have mostly been just about qualifying for the Champions League, miles off any hopes of a serious title challenge.
It says a lot about the squad turnover since 2016/17, the last time Chelsea won a league title, that only four of the current first-team squad were present for Antonio Conte's transformational campaign.
Though only three were starters being Cesar Azpilicueta, Marcos Alonso and N'Golo Kante. The other was Ruben Loftus-Cheek who was a fringe figure before joining Crystal Palace on loan the next season.
Azpilicueta is probably showing signs now of his age, struggling to maintain the extraordinary levels of consistency he has since 2012. Alonso is a long way from the player seen during that incredible season where his bombing runs down the wing caused havoc.
Kante's elite levels have rarely dwindled since but his injury issues have caused Chelsea to be extra precautious with his game time.
There was hope the squad containing players from Conte's era, Maurizio Sarri's year and Frank Lampard's youth revolution winning the Champions League crown under Tuchel could propel them to a title race for this season.
And it would be unfair to rule that prospect out just yet given the gap only being four points and the fact Chelsea face both Liverpool and Manchester City in the next month.
Though looking at the set cultures at the Etihad and Anfield indicates how ingrained those environments have become. Both coaches first full seasons in England was the year Conte stormed a Chelsea squad containing previous title winners back to glory.
Since then Man City and Liverpool have been the clear heavyweights of the division and you cannot help but feel a lot of that is not only down to both coaches elite tactical nous but also the brilliant structure around them to facilitate their success.
At Chelsea with Roman Abramovich that has simply not been the case and 2021 was probably the year his more chaotic model has been vindicated once more.
With Tuchel's January arrival and transformation into European Champions four months later, few can argue against Abramovich not only being right to make the change, but his more short-term view of consistent change is Chelsea's identity.
Tuchel understands this culture more than anyone and regularly makes jokes about it, however the challenge to close a 19-point gap within nine months to Man City was always going to be a steep task.
For all Chelsea's system has been lauded, recent weeks have begun to show cracks within it at both ends of the pitch. Mainly in the lack of regular goals from attacking players which were being masked by defenders chipping in with so many.
Now as ideas begin to run out, the lack of attacking certainty compared to their title rivals is costing Chelsea in the most crucial run of the season.
It is naive to look at the title rivals and expect their methods of success will be copied anytime soon in west London, though will that leave Chelsea labouring behind the top two for longer than desired?
Even with Chelsea's increased investment, European success, elite academy and talented squad you cannot help but feel time is the inescapable factor here for Tuchel to better form his squad into his vision.
Though as we know at Roman's Chelsea, time is afforded to no one.
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