Chelsea's mentality of Big Game has left her-just look at your record against the top teams

It may not be what some of their fans want to raiseR But Chelsea's problems run deeper than the tactics of head coach Enzo Maresca. When it comes to the big games, this squad has a serious problem of faith.

The overwhelming exhibition in its 1-0 defeat against Arsenal on Sunday was the latest chapter in a series of disappointing performances by Maresca's page since the end of December. Even the four victories in a row that preceded Southampton, Leicester and Copenhagen on Sunday were not convincing.

Maresca has certainly answered questions about what is going on and after the reception that some he received from some yesterday at the end of the emirates at the Emirates stage, they want to hear some better ones, although Chelsea are in the Premier League with nine games in the Premier League.

But the sign of a very good team, one Able to not only qualify for the Champions League through a top four/five top finish, but also to win the European top club competition itself, is her record against other top pages. We speak of Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City (despite their downturn this season). Manchester United and Tottenham also have to be included, although they have to struggle in the lower half of the table this season, since they also have intensive rivalries with the other large fish of the league.

When Chelsea was in order in the first two decades in the first two decades in the first two decades of this century and the Premier League title (five of them) regularly competed, the victories over this quintet were everyday. Chelsea would go to places like Arsenal and most people in the crowd, let alone the 22 on the field, would probably know the result. And if it were not an away win, it would be at least a tie.

But these days are now a distant memory and Chelsea's record in these devices, since the Todd Boehly Clearlake consortium took over the club in May 2022, has made a bad reading.

When Cole Palmer scored the latest winner in the history of the Premier League against Manchester United in the 101st minute in April (Chelsea came 3-2 in added time that day), they would have no victories against United, Liverpool, Arsenal and City in all competitions.

Even if you add Tottenham who have dominated Chelsea for over 30 years, whether they were good or not, it doesn't look very better.

To highlight how worrying this trend is, just look at the table below.

As it also shows, Chelsea was exceeded by each of these teams during this time. It's just not good enough.

If you only consider the Premier League games, in your last 20 away games you have only three wins against teams who started the day in the table. Chelsea last ended this trend against Bournemouth in September.

To be fair, some of Chelseas began fighting these opponents before the change of ownership. Chelsea last won in Arsenal in August 2021 – in the same year they most recently beat the city with a victory in Etihad in May and had their latest triumph about Liverpool in Angeld a few months earlier.

There were some promising signs that the gap under Mauricio Pochettino narrowed the two draw against the city last season and the dramatic success of United. Maresca can also point out the first half of this campaign in which Chelsea looked really good with Arsenal and United. After the 2-1 defeat against Liverpool in October, her coach Arne Slot admitted that Chelsea was the only team with whom his men were “better than we”-to the 16th round of the Champions League in Paris Saint-Germain.

There is a 2-1 home win in October against Newcastle, while December achieved a 3-0 triumph about Aston Villa as Stamford Bridge and came from two goals to beat away Spurs to offer a certain encouragement. And the hope is that Palmer, Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke will be back after this 17-day break for international games and the FA Cup quarter-finals.

But overall something is still missing; This ability to face the toughest tests and to be ahead. A mental block.

The people who are now leading Chelsea have deliberately selected a transfer policy that focuses on the signing of youth and potential, and this means that they now have the youngest team in the Premier League. Playing such a long -term strategy that is waiting for the players to develop into the finished article that they have imagined is free.

Marc Cucurella cuts a frustrated figure in the Emirates stage (Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Before the kick -off on her previous trip to the Emirates in April, Chelsea looked 5-0. They managed to contain the Arsenal attack flood for Chelsea's honor, but they have never looked like a goal.

Now they were especially without important attacking players, Palmer and Jackson. Romeo Lavia, who was so impressive in this defeat against Liverpool in Anfield, was a late replacement that had just returned with his last injury of two months. But Chelsea in her pomp knew how to deal with such setbacks and still achieve the result.

When asked by The athlete If he believes that this is a problem that he has inherited and has to overcome, Maresca seemed to admit that something is missing. He replied: “When the results say that … what I can say between the first game against Arsenal (1-1 draw in November at the bridge) and today's game to be honest, I don't see a big difference between us and them.

“That means that we are … for me since I arrived … I have the feeling of being on the right track and we are very close. We need exactly this step forward to take part in such games. This step comes under the top 4, Top Five, Champions League Spot. “

Nobody can deny that the addition of Moises Caicedo from Brighton & Hove Albion has improved the midfield of Chelsea, but you can feel a little frustration about your struggle for this last step. In an interview with Sky Sports, he said: “The team is good, the team is working hard to win the games. We want to show character, we want to play our best football and we want to win such games. “

The topic is relevant because the race for the Champions League qualification with only five points between the fourth and in Bournemouth in the 10th race for the last day of the season looks.

The nine remaining devices of Chelsea include meetings with Tottenham, Liverpool and United. In order to return to the Champions League next season, you have to add more numbers to the WINS columns in your biggest games.

(Top photo: Julian Finney/Getty Images)