The Spectacular Fall of Chelsea
They conquered what they saw. They battered their enemies. Their empire stood firm at the top of the order. But one day, like the curse on Karna, the ill-fated king of Anga, their skills deserted them. Their nerves rattled. They fell prostrate at the feet of their enemies and surrendered. Their kingdom was lost.I'm talking about Chelsea Football Club. In the beginning of the season pundits predicted Chelsea to comfortably run away with the title this season. And a run of high-scoring victories made many to believe they were on course for an uneventful title defense. But their flying start soon came to a screeching halt. Less than eight months after winning The Double, Chelsea are a broken team and there seems no way back.
Though I personally predicted Chelsea to lose points in the middle of the season, the slump they are in now is never predicted. One victory in nine and 10 points from the last 11 games is the worst run since 1995-96. Chelsea is bottom of the form table. No one possibly could have predicted this.
One can tell many reasons for their woeful run of nightmarish defeats- aging squad, injuries, small first team etc. Along with Wigan, Chelsea’s senior squad of 19 (including three keepers) are the smallest in the Premier League.
Perhaps it’s a combination of all the above said factors with bad luck sprinkled over it, or it may be confidence that is in short supply at the moment. When your confidence is low, your concentration can never be high and you tend to leak goals, and even turn into your own goal. But having said all these, a team like Chelsea cannot become a bad team so soon. After all they are the defending champions.
Their plight remains as much of a mystery as United's unbeaten run. The Sun asked, "What on earth did they do in sacking Ray Wilkins?"
