Maresca's Unceasing Rotation Puts Chelsea Reeling.

While The Blues didn't entirely destroy their prospects of finishing in the top eight of the Bigger Cup opening phase, they executed a targeted blow on their own hopes of automatically qualifying for the round of 16. Of course, the good news is that in the brief history of the new and not-necessarily-improved tournament, securing a top-eight finish may not be as crucial as it seems.

The Central Problem: A Predictable Lack of Consistency

Unfortunately for Stamford Bridge regulars, the only consistent thing about the Chelsea team is a monotonously predictable inconsistency, which has been widely discussed following their loss in Bergamo. Since seemingly confirming their credentials with an impressive beat-down of Barcelona, followed by a bad-tempered draw with a London rival, the team have been stuffed by a Championship side, played out a dull draw at Bournemouth and have now been beaten by a mid-table side from Serie A.

Although pundits have been eager to point the finger on a selection policy that appears to see the coach change his lineup like a kebab shop’s elephant leg of doner meat, the Chelsea head coach insists that, knack and naughty step permitting, the nucleus of his starting lineup for games against strong opposition is mostly fixed.

“In my view tonight, starting team, we had on the field the majority of the team that play against Spurs, they played against Barca, they play against Wolverhampton, Arsenal,” he droned. “There were eight, nine players that are the ones playing every time for matches of this magnitude. So if you see the five changes that we did compared to previous game, it’s a different situation.”

The Path Forward

To have any realistic chance of avoiding the Bigger Cup playoff round, they will have to be victorious in their remaining two matches. In the first, they welcome the unexpected contenders Pafos, before heading back to Italy to face the Italian title holders, Napoli.

“Victories in both are required, otherwise, we will face the playoff and then progress to the following stage,” remarked Maresca, whose next appointment is a game against an Merseyside team whose current form has propelled them to the surprising position of seventh in the domestic league.

Other Notes

Quote of the Day: “It's interesting, it’s somewhat ironic because his biggest dream was me becoming a professional golfer. That was his ultimate ambition. So when I was 10, he forced me to take up golf. So I played golf every week from when I was 10 to 13” – a star striker explained how, had his dad got his way, he could have been on the golf course rather than tearing it up in the top flight.

Readers' Letters

“So, no wonder Wolverhampton Wanderers are in such a sad state. As any regular reader of this column will know, the only effective pre-match protests involve marching from a public house that the supporters planned to be at anyway, to the stadium that they were inevitably going to. Just showing up 10 minutes late? That’s how long it takes fans to get to their seats anyway” – a correspondent.

“I see that one correspondent not only got the previous letter o’ the day, but also a mention in another reader's letter. On a night where both clubs from Sheffield once more surrendered points after leading, I am led to ponder: could Sheffield be proving that the frequency of appearances in your letters section is inversely proportional to the success of anything our teams are achieving on the field?” – another fan.