Howard Webb told to head to Chelsea training ground to deal with ‘dirty side’
Chelsea have received six red cards in their last nine matches and will want to improve their discipline going forward if they wish to succeed this season.
Chelsea‘s inconsistencies have been clear so far in 2025-26, with their four wins and three losses in the league meaning they sit in ninth place ahead of the weekend’s action.
Their disciplinary issues started last month as Robert Sanchez was sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity in the first five minutes of their 2-1 loss to Man United.
Trevoh Chalobah was dismissed in their next league outing against Brighton, while Joao Pedro then saw red a few days later for two bookable offences against Benfica in the Champions League.
Enzo Maresca himself was sent off as they won late on against Liverpool, while Malo Gusto and Liam Delap have each been dismissed against Nottingham Forest and Wolves respectively recently, so it is clear that something needs to be done so they change their ways as soon as possible.
Chelsea told to bring Howard Webb into the training ground by Mark Clattenburg
Delap’s sending off at Wolves summed up the club’s current issues, as he lost his head and went in too strong on Emmanuel Agbadou despite only being booked a matter of minutes prior.
Speaking to the Daily Mail (30 October), former Premier League and FIFA listed referee Mark Clattenburg insisted that the Blues should seek the advice of PGMOL chief Howard Webb to put an end to their red card woes.
He said: “If I were working inside Chelsea Football Club today, firstly I would accept that we have a discipline problem, and secondly I would phone Howard Webb at the PGMOL.
“I’d ask him if either he or one of his colleagues would come to Chelsea’s training ground to speak with the players, in a group setting and in the confines of Cobham. Talk through their red cards with them. Show them where they went wrong in each instance. Explain how to stay on the right side of the laws of the game.
“The message might have more of an impact coming from the very organisation whose officials are the ones handing the players these cards, after all, rather than yet another meeting in which a manager tells them how idiotic they have been behaving.
“From where I stand, I don’t categorise Chelsea as a ‘dirty side’ per se. I refereed a fair few of those in my time.”
What Maresca has said about Chelsea’s disciplinary issues
Chelsea face Tottenham this weekend in a fixture that is notorious for its ill-tempered nature, with a particular standout being the ‘Battle of the Bridge’ in 2016, which was officiated by Clattenburg.
Maresca spoke to the media about his side’s issues around discipline in recent times ahead of the clash and insisted that his team will improve in that regard as time goes on.
He said: “I think that some of the red cards that we concede, we can avoid it.
“I spoke with Liam, but Liam, he knows everything. He’s aware of the situation. He knows that he made a mistake. And full stop. No more than that.
“It’s also something that we need to learn. Something that we have to do better. And for sure, no doubt that in the future we’re going to be better also on that.”
Maresca’s side are in need of another league win more than anything else, and they will go a long way to achieving that goal by keeping all 11 players on the pitch against their rivals in North London on Saturday (1 November).