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Although Chelsea didn't entirely destroy their hopes of ending up in the highest eight places of the continental tournament group stage, they executed a targeted blow on their own chances of automatically qualifying for the round of 16. Of course, the good news is that in the short one-year history of the recently revamped competition, achieving a top-eight finish isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

The Central Problem: A Monotonous Lack of Consistency

Sadly for the club's supporters, the only consistent thing about Enzo Maresca’s side is a monotonously predictable lack of consistency, which has been much remarked upon since their defeat in Bergamo. After apparently rubber-stamping their credentials with an impressive beat-down of Barcelona, and then a feisty stalemate with Arsenal, the team have been stuffed by a Championship side, played out a dull draw at the south coast club and have now been beaten by a mid-table side from Serie A.

Although pundits have been eager to point the finger on a selection policy that seems to see Enzo Maresca rotate his team constantly, the Chelsea head coach insists that, injuries and suspensions aside, the nucleus of his starting lineup for big matches is mostly fixed.

“In my view tonight, first XI, we had on the field the majority of the team that featured against Spurs, they played against Barca, they play against Wolves, Arsenal,” he stated. “There were eight, nine players that are the ones consistently selected for these kind of games. So if you look at the several alterations that we did from the previous game, it’s a different situation.”

What Comes Next

To have any realistic chance of avoiding the Bigger Cup playoff round, Chelsea will have to win their remaining two matches. First up, they host this season’s surprise package a Cypriot team, then travel back to the continent to face the Italian title holders, the Neapolitan side.

“Victories in both are required, otherwise, we will face the extra round and then go to the next round,” remarked Maresca, whose next appointment is a game against an Everton team whose recent consistency has propelled them to the surprising position of seventh in the domestic league.

Other Notes

Quote of the Day: “It's interesting, it’s somewhat ironic because his biggest dream was me turning pro in golf. That was his ultimate ambition. So when I was 10, he pushed me to start on golf. So I played golf every week from when I was 10 to 13” – a star striker revealed how, had his dad got his way, he could have been on the golf course rather than tearing it up in the Premier League.

Fan Correspondence

“Well, no wonder Wolves are in such a poor situation. As any regular reader of this column will know, the only good pre-match protests involve walking from a public house that the supporters planned to be at anyway, to the ground that they were always going to. Just showing up 10 minutes late? That’s how long it takes fans to get to their seats anyway” – one reader.

“I note that a reader not only got the previous featured letter, but also a name check in a separate letter. On a night where both Sheffield teams again surrendered points after leading, I am wondering: could Sheffield be proving that the regularity of representation in your mailbag is inversely related to the success of anything our teams are achieving on the field?” – another fan.