Ben Chilwell's ACL tear is quickly feeling a turning point in Chelsea's season narrative for all the wrong reasons.
Since his injury in the second half of probably the highest point of the campaign so far, Thomas Tuchel's side simply have not been at their best.
Against Manchester United they were dominant but failed to convert good chances, hurt by a very costly Jorginho error. A pretty abysmal display away at Watford was ironically saved by ruthless finishing, but all those frustrations boiled over in the second half collapse away to West Ham on Saturday afternoon.
Now Tuchel is searching for quick answers to resolve this sudden slump in form.
One of the questions revolves around the left wingback spot in Chilwell's absence which Marcos Alonso has filled in the three games since.
Alonso started the season strongly and has enjoyed his best spells for the club at wingback but the Watford and West Ham fixtures both showed his growing limitations in comparison to the younger alternative.
His reactions are slower, positioning less reliable and defensive lapses have been present in the lead up to goals at Vicarage Road and the London Stadium.
The lack of physicality to be easily outmuscled by Vladimír Coufal on Saturday allowed Jarrod Bowen the chance to rifle in West Ham's equaliser.
Tuchel replaced Alonso with Christian Pulisic who most expected to fill a wingback role like he did last weekend when coming off the bench against Man United. But instead, Callum Hudson-Odoi was moved to replace Alonso as the American filled his usual left-wing spot.
With Alonso's concerning frailties, Chilwell's long-term injury and the lack of obvious options in a congested fixture schedule it appears once again Tuchel may view Hudson-Odoi as the obvious choice to move back.
The 21-year-old has enjoyed the best run of his Blues career in recent weeks, finally being played in his favoured position, on the left of an attacking trio, and being a consistent creative threat.
After Hudson-Odoi's goal against Juventus in the 4-0 win stats account Expected Chelsea dived into his influence in the previous seven starts. On the left-wing Hudson-Odoi had two goals, one assist, 14 shots (2.1 per 90), 17 key passes (2.56 per 90), five big chances created (0.75 per 90) and 13 dribbles completed (1.95 per 90).
Five days later Hudson-Odoi created more chances (4) than any other player against Manchester United, which was also more than the entire United team on the day.
Tuchel has spoken of Pulisic's ability to play at wingback, referring to his time at Borussia Dortmund with the American which would be an intriguing watch and more refreshing than seeing Chelsea's academy graduate again forced to move.
Even the woefully out of form Saul Niguez might be tried there in the coming weeks if Alonso continues to struggle.
Either of those options would allow Hudson-Odoi to compete for a place he's quickly made his own over recent months, proving his influence in the final third.
Make sure you have subscribed to CareFree Chelsea on YouTube! The Fan Brands team along with plenty of your football.london favourites will be producing daily Chelsea content for you to enjoy including match reactions, podcasts, football fun and interviews. You can follow Daniel Childs from the CareFreeChelsea team to keep up to date with his work. If you enjoyed reading this then give my other articles a read below.
