Chelsea’s have ‘no chance’ of winning the Premier League, this is why
Chelsea have “no chance” of challenging Liverpool, Arsenal and Man City in this season’s Premier League title race.
That is according to former Man United and Sunderland chief scout Mick Brown, who remains very well-connected within the game, as he exclusively told Football Insider that Chelsea are stuck in “no man’s land” with key issues that still need resolving.
Maresca’s side have now gone three games without a win following a draw at Brentford and Chelsea’s 3-1 defeat at Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
As a result, questions are being asked about their defensive solidity with Robert Sanchez slammed after the defeat to Man United and ongoing scrutiny of Trevoh Chalobah.
The boss has been told he must resolve the ongoing issues which have emerged as a result of his tactical setup if he wants to take his team to the next level.
Chelsea title hopes dashed as Enzo Maresca told what he must do
Jamie Carragher insisted Chelsea won’t challenge for the title this season, with their goalkeeper and centre-backs not good enough to make them contenders.
Brown, who has a wealth of experience working closely with elite-level managers including the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson and Ron Atkinson at Man United, insisted the manager is also to blame and must address their issues to improve on the pitch.
“Chelsea are in no man’s land at the moment,” he told Football Insider.
“They’re a promising side and they’ve got a lot of good players, but they’re not a top side and they’ve got no change of challenging the likes of Liverpool, Man City and Arsenal.
“Defensively, they’re just not good enough to compete at the real top level, even though they can be brilliant going forward at times.
“It’s a young squad and you want to see some of these players put their mark on the game but none of them seem prepared to force the issue.
“Against Man United they were poor, they never looked like winning that game and of course the red card made a difference, but after half-time it wasn’t any better.
“It’s clear what they’re trying to do, and they’ve had a decent start to the season, but there are issues in that team that will stop them from challenging.
“It’s up to the manager now to resolve those issues because it’s not necessarily about the players themselves, it’s about how they want to play.
“If the manager can get them playing more consistently and have his best players at the top of their games, then they’ll be a good side.
“After the game, he came out defending the way they set up and all of that instead of admitting where things went wrong and committing to improving, I think that’s an issue.“
Maresca has been urged to make changes to his style to aid the team on the pitch, but the boss’ stubborn nature has raised questions about his decisions.
Maresca slammed after Chelsea v Man United comments
Large sections of Chelsea fans and pundits pointed the finger at Maresca following their defeat against Man United, with his changes blamed for the result.
In his Chelsea press conference following the Man United game, he doubled down on his decision to play five defenders despite the post-match scrutiny.
The boss’ stubbornness has been earmarked as an “issue” for the Blues in their ambitions to improve and compete for regular silverware at the top level.
Since his arrival at Stamford Bridge, Maresca has led Chelsea to UEFA Conference League and Club World Cup success as well as Champions League qualification.
However, with the club’s ultimate ambition to challenge for the Premier League title, there is a growing demand for him to improve the squad.
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