the beginning of the end

As I sit here, in the dark, listening to the snickers of those in the football community regarding my beloved blues, Chelsea fc, I get just that, the blues. Another horrific display of a game today found Chelsea down 1-0 after just five minutes. How the ensuing 85 minutes couldn't provide even one blues goal has me baffled. But the truth of the matter is the team that proudly called itself the best in England last season has lost any bit of spark that may have been left. It's hard to believe that the run of five thrilling victories in a row to start the campaign was even a part of this season.

Chelsea saw the first signs of trouble arrive on the 25th of September when they lost to Man City at Eastlands. They had very little creativity and had trouble penetrating their opponents' midfield. Success continued to come for them even after this disappointing result, including a 2-0 win at home to Arsenal. However, the Manchester game proved that all a team must do in order to beat Chelsea is focus on lockdown defense, and decent play from the center backs, goalkeeper and defensive middies. Wolves had similar tactics today as did Birmingham when they beat Chelsea.

Chelsea have had recent games where they looked lively and threatening to score from many places. Sunday's game against Villa is one example, where the Blues managed to put up three fantastic goals, showing that when these boys put pressure on the keeper and bring traffic to the box, good things happen. It is entirely simple in theory. But seeing the inability to do much of that today against lowly wolves, I am disheartened and out of advice for what should happen on the pitch.

One thing I do know is that there are two things that Chelsea could do to get the ship afloat:
They could dump Carlo Ancelotti, the man who brought two trophies to the club last season and/or they can play around in the transfer window. I would think Ancelotti's job is safe at least until the end of the season, but you never know. As for possible transfers? I would love to see Andy Caroll, one of the hottest goalscorers in the world in a blue shirt but it looks as if he could be becoming a spur. Luka Modric of Tottenham might be the best bet. But owner Roman Abramovich is not one to spend big in January. However, there needs to be an addition, if nothing else to bring a mental lift to the club.

Nonetheless, doing these things might solve certain problems for the time being but the future of Chelsea fc will be extremely grim if the current young crop of players do not develop at the same rate as those at rival clubs in the Premier league and unfortunately this looks to be the case. Two years from now or even one, we may begin to see the ages of key players Drogba, Terry, and Lampard show even more than they are painfully showing right now. Only time will tell. But for now? Hope is lost in the once mighty Blue kingdom and we're letting the bad guys win.

image courtesy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/70391825@N00/348089028/