Sarri wrong over Chelsea fans
Maurizio Sarri was the subject of quite a lot of chanting from the Chelsea fans, including wanting him out of the club.
However, when asked if he can turn the Blues supporters around and win their approval, Sarri said: “I don't know [if I can turn the fans round]. I think that we only need to win matches. If you win matches, the fans will be happy.
“Of course, we need to improve and play better. But sometimes, during the season, you need to win matches like this.
“We lost in Everton after our best first half of the season, playing very good football, but ended up losing the match. Today we started very badly but, in the end, we won. Probably with a bit of luck, but, for sure, there was a bit of unluckiness at Everton.”
Of course, winning matches is certainly one way of doing it, but it’s not the only way and at this point it doesn’t even seem to be the way that is most concerning to the fans.
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It’s more about a progression, seeing a style of play that endears you to them and that proves you can take the club to another level.
At the moment there doesn’t seem to be anything like that for supporters to latch on to and it is starting to boil over into the terraces.
At Chelsea there has grown a culture of change, something that has bred throughout the Roman Abramovich era. If things aren’t going well then the axe is given and the Blues move on.
It means patience does not come into it with a lot of supporters, which several head coaches before Sarri have had to suffer with.
But for Sarri to say it is all about wins is just not the case. There needs to be more for the Blues supporters to feed on and a poor 2-1 win at Cardiff City is not it.
Higuain a real issue
When Chelsea gave Alvaro Morata to Atletico Madrid and Gonzalo Higuain joined the Blues for the rest of the season, there was hope that Chelsea had the striker they needed.
However, that doesn’t even seem to be close to true after the most recent performances and the win at Cardiff was probably the worst.
In the first half he gave the ball away a couple of times with shocking passes, making up for it a few times with some nice touches.
However, the most worrying thing was the fact that the Argentine had some aversion from trying to burst into the Cardiff box.
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Higuain started dropping deeper and deeper to come and get the ball that he never actually got himself into decent positions to have a shot on goal.
His form is a massive worry. Something holding Chelsea back before was their centre-forward, and it doesn’t look like it is getting any better.
It might even get to the point where Eden Hazard starts in the false nine position once again, which would mean a sorry state for Higuain and where his future lies.
Loftus-Cheek the number one midfielder (after Kante of course)
It has been a frustrating season for Ruben Loftus-Cheek. More so than anything, his back issues mean that the midfielder has endured a stop-start campaign.
However, his winner at the death was a brilliant header to stoop into the bottom corner of the net and guarantee all three points.
When Loftus-Cheek is fit and healthy there is not a better midfielder in the Chelsea side, other than N’Golo Kante.
The 23-year-old has everything that you need to be a powerhouse in that position and his natural attacking instinct of course puts him in the right position more often than not.
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There might be games, such as Manchester United and Liverpool coming up, that Mateo Kovacic could be preferable in a defensive capacity.
But in 90% of the teams Chelsea face throughout the campaign it seems strange that Loftus-Cheek wouldn’t be the number one man for that left spot.
The hope now is that he can put the back problems in the past and move on with his career, because it should be a bright one.
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Worst performance of the season?
There have been some shockers this season. Of course Manchester City away and Bournemouth away spring out immediately, but yesterday was right up there.
While some of the players had been on an international break, there were some in the starting XI that had two weeks off to prepare.
If anything though, it looked like those players had just been on the beach for a fortnight with the tempo slow and a lack of urgency.
It didn’t really get better, either, and it seems to strange that to say after a 2-1 win that it was a disappointing performance.
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However, that is the reality and the majority of Chelsea fans will likely say the same.
Cardiff were always going to make it tough and they were up for the battle, no doubt, and could have come away with three points if it wasn’t for some dodgy officiating.
The Bluebirds can feel hard done by, while Sarri knows he has a lot of work to do.
The bigger picture
It was a dire showing from the Blues, there is no doubt about that, but the bigger picture for the season is about getting in the top four.
Whatever is said about the style of play it was a much-needed three points. A huge slice of luck, if you can even all it that, as the officials had a shocker to let Sarri off the hook.
But with seven games to go Spurs are now just one point ahead alongside Manchester United, with Arsenal also a point ahead but playing tonight.
The race for the top four remains very much on and with Brighton the visitors on Wednesday night to Stamford Bridge, the Blues have a great opportunity to creep into it once again.
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Of course, we have uttered those words before and Chelsea have blown their chances to get into the Champions League spots for next season.
The positive you could take is surely that Chelsea can’t play that bad again for a long time (you say that with hope).
If they do then there is no chance of getting one of those spots, especially when they make the trips to Old Trafford and Anfield later this month.
But taking the performance to one side, it was three points and a step closer to the necessary target.
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