Chelsea’s season stumbled once again tonight with a 2-1 defeat at Leicester City. This latest setback leaves the reigning Premier League champions down in 16th place, only a single point clear of the drop zone, and, worryingly for Blues fans, fourteen points off fourth place, currently held by Manchester United.
Here are five things learned from this latest Chelsea disaster:
- JOSE MOURINHO – IS HE STILL THE SPECIAL ONE?
It has been a woeful season, not only for Chelsea in general, but also Mourinho. The Eva Carneiro controversy, which continues to rumble on, coupled with poor results on the field, and also rumours of a mutiny in the dressing room, seem to have taken their toll. Is he still capable of weaving the magic he brought with him when he first appeared on the English scene?
    2. THE MAHREZ AND VARDY SHOW GOES ON AND ON
A superb season for Riyad Mahrez, who nobody had heard of before this season, and England’s Jamie Vardy, who has worked his way up from non-league, shows no sign of slowing down. Mahrez has now been involved in eighteen league goals this season, more than any other Premier League player. He and Vardy have twenty-six goals between them this term.
    3. TOO MANY CHELSEA PLAYERS HAVE GONE MISSING TOO OFTEN
Plenty of the big-name and big money stars plying their trade in the famous blue shirt this season have simply underperformed. Rumours of a dressing-room mutiny have not helped, and not even skipper John Terry could inspire the Blues, as he has been able to so many times in the past. Eden Hazard is another. And Diego Costa needs to focus more about performing on the pitch, rather than spitting his dummy every time he does not feature.
     4. THE TINKERMAN COMETH
Foxes manager Claudio Ranieri earned the nickname of the Tinkerman during his time in charge of Chelsea. Tonight, he came back to haunt his former employers. He has done a fantastic job of eliminating any fear his players may have, while getting them to play with a freedom unmatched by many. And he is also keeping his players focused: as he said in the post-match interview “We still need another five points to be safe”.
    5. EVEN CHELSEA’s JOURNEY BACK HOME WAS NOT TROUBLE-FREE
Just to complete another miserable night for the visiting fans, the PA announcer stated over the tannoy that there was a ten mile tailback for the journey back south. This, like the two Leicester goals during the match, was greeted with loud cheers from the home faithful. On this basis, there will be little festive cheer in the blue side of West London.
By Steve Osborne             @BlizzardSteve75
