‘We want our Chelsea back,’ was the song reverberating around Stamford Bridge as we neared the conclusion of this latest calamity, and indeed, you can see why they no longer recognise their club.
So used to conquering, now they cannot score, and cannot defend.
For the first time since 1998, Chelsea have endured four consecutive league losses without so much as grabbing a goal for themselves. The last time they lost five in succession without scoring? The same year that the Titanic sank in 1912, and a trip to Brighton awaits on Tuesday night.
Manchester United are a fine side under Michael Carrick, but this was made worse for Chelsea by how the visitors were only able to name a single central defender – 19-year-old Ayden Heaven – in their starting line-up because of injuries and suspensions.
It was supposed to represent an opportunity for Liam Rosenior to arrest their slump. Instead, they have not kept a Premier League clean sheet since January 17, when Thomas Frank was still Tottenham Hotspur manager before Igor Tudor and Roberto De Zerbi – and Spurs were 10 points from safety.
They have not scored in this competition since March 4, when Artemis II was still a month from launching – and it has since been around the Moon and back.
Rosenior’s Chelsea are sleepwalking towards a season without European football altogether, let alone missing out on the Champions League, and that would only go down as an excruciating embarrassment for the side with a shiny sticker on their fronts proclaiming themselves the champions of the world.
After full-time, Rosenior resisted the urge to dash down the tunnel. Instead, he paraded the pitch to show his appreciation to the few Chelsea fans remaining, but it was as he approached the Matthew Harding Stand that it became abundantly clear the feeling was not mutual. What he received in return were boos, instructions telling him where to go, and V-signs.
The fanbase is fed up. Before kick-off, there was a protest against their BlueCo ownership, involving both Chelsea fans and Strasbourg supporters who had flown in from France to join in. One Metropolitan Police officer estimated 500 in attendance, though it felt bigger, both in its numbers and its significance.
Despite Chelsea’s custodians insisting they are ready to tweak their youthful recruitment strategy – co-owner Behdad Eghbali said so at a conference in Los Angeles this week – they have lost the trust of this fanbase. ‘F*** off Eghbali’ was another chant here at Stamford Bridge.
The game followed a familiar story. Chelsea created chances, took none of them as a force field seemed to surround United’s goal, and conceded flimsily. Wesley Fofana was off the field being treated for a rib injury after his own goalkeeper Robert Sanchez has barged into him, but all it took was one cross from Bruno Fernandes and one blast from Matheus Cunha. United are cruising towards Champions League football. Chelsea are not.
In a televised interview before kick-off, Cole Palmer laid bare the importance of Chelsea finishing in the top five. ‘If we’re not in the Champions League, a lot changes, everything changes,’ he said. ‘We absolutely have to qualify for it.’ Read into that what you will.
United arrived so depleted in defence, it was as if they were daring Chelsea not to score. There was no Lisandro Martinez – suspended. No Matthijs De Ligt – injured. No Harry Maguire – suspended. No Leny Yoro – injured.
That left Michael Carrick with Heaven as his only senior option at centre back. We say ‘senior’. He is 19 years old, cost around £1.2million from Arsenal, and in his nine other starts in all competitions this season, United had secured just a single clean sheet. Now here he was, with right back Noussair Mazraoui beside him.
With Joao Pedro tweaking his thigh in training for Chelsea, Heaven was facing Liam Delap, who was starting a Premier League game for the first time since January.
United’s teenage defender flew into challenges throughout, adopting an aggressive approach, though Chelsea were infuriated when one such instance saw Palmer hacked down. Referee Michael Oliver awarding nothing infuriated Chelsea, whose mood worsened when their brightest winger, the 18-year-old Estevao Willian from Brazil, withdrew with a hamstring injury.
That handed an opportunity to Alejandro Garnacho at least. The Argentinian, still only 21, has not yet found form since leaving United for Chelsea for £40million last summer. Now he was facing his former side for the first time.
The visiting fans had already been serenading him with unflattering songs from the warm-up. Shushing them would be a sweet feeling, and yet when Garnacho had opportunities to shoot, he seemed scared to do so, wary of the ironic cheers following.
Chelsea wasted umpteen chances. Enzo Fernandez, back after his in-house two-game ban, struck the wall from a 20-yard free-kick. Fernandez then curled wide after outmuscling Mazraoui. Delap should have headed in. Delap then did tap in, but saw it disallowed for offside against Palmer.
It was typical of Chelsea, as was the way they conceded the opener. That started with Sanchez clattering into Fofana while punching clear a cross. It left the defender in need of treatment. While he was off the field, Fernandes attacked down the right, Garnacho failed to stop his cross, and it found Cunha for 1-0.
It represented Fernandes’ 18th Premier League assist of the season – with 20 the record set by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne. The Player of the Year award is in his sights.
Palmer is still stranded on only one assist all season. He looks lost. All of Chelsea’s players do.
