Chelsea's Misfortune: More Than Just Bad Luck

The Debrief, a Sky Sports column, examines key stories from recent Premier League matches. This week, the focus is on Chelsea's struggles under Liam Rosenior. Despite Rosenior's claims of bad luck, the team's poor form is more complex. Since he took over, Chelsea has dropped to ninth in the Premier League table, with four consecutive defeats, including three at home. The defeat to Manchester United highlighted Chelsea's inability to capitalize on scoring opportunities, with the team hitting the woodwork multiple times. However, Opta reports that only three shots struck the frame of the goal. Chelsea's finishing has been spectacularly bad, with the team failing to score despite having the most shots since mid-March. The statistics suggest that United had the clearest opening of the game, and Chelsea's chances were of lower quality. This has been a feature of their play under Rosenior during this poor run. In fact, only Wolves have had a lower expected-goals total per shot than Chelsea over the past 10 games. The team's inability to penetrate the penalty box has been a problem, and their chances are not good chances. This has led to a recurring theme of blanking despite 'dominating' games. Perhaps more worrying is the potential that this is a consequence of their personnel. The team's attacking players have underperformed expected goals throughout their careers in the competition. Meanwhile, Jamie Carragher focused on Florian Wirtz before the Merseyside derby, describing his haul of four goals and three assists as 'neat and tidy, not really hurting the opposition.' Wirtz's statistics highlight why he is tricky to assess, with nobody creating more open-play chances. However, his performances have not lived up to expectations, with the eye test telling a different tale. Wirtz struggled to retain possession and was outmuscled, unable to impose himself. He has not shown the swagger expected, and his obvious talent buys him time, but there are limits to patience. Newcastle is still playing with intensity, ranking second in the Premier League for sprints. However, this approach is leaving gaps, and their success has become part of their problem. The team's home form is alarming, with five losses in their last six Premier League games at St James' Park. A vulnerable Newcastle makes for a vulnerable Eddie Howe, with his selection decisions under scrutiny.