MAN CITY 4, CHELSEA 0
Chelsea out of the FA Cup after a 4 goal thrashing by Man City. To be honest, it was a weak performance, one of the worst first halves I've ever seen from a Chelsea side, and even despite coming out a bit stronger in the second half with some positive subs, we never looked like challenging.
In some ways it's a blessing in disguise because it gives us full focus on the league and a potential European position, but on the other hand it was Potter's one real chance at silverware this season to kickstart his time at Chelsea. Though, with the team and players we have at the moment, I doubt we would have gotten much further beyond this round of the competition.
Potter's job was basically all that was discussed between this game and the league game last Friday (a 1-0 loss to City) and undoubtedly after a game like this those conversations will continue to happen. I am very much on the side of Potter and will continue to be, so long as we start to see steady signs of improvement. I have no idea why there was a change in mentality, though. The league game I thought was a breath of fresh air, we looked confident and took the fight to the opponent, creating chances, perhaps a few goals on another day. In this game we were the complete opposite of that - cowardly camped in our own half, and no positive forward play from anyone, passing sideways or backwards the second we start to get the ball into the midfield area. The first City goal was unavoidable, a class Mahrez free kick that had power and placement, leaving Kepa no chance. The rest, embarrasing.
Our issue is very much still chance creation. As I said before, there was no forward play. Noone wanted to take a risk and send a pass or through ball forward, or make good passes out the wings to push forward. We get just beyond the half-way line before hesitiating, letting City get into a defensive shape, and then we work backwards all the way to Kepa and let the City press pressure our (mostly) youthful and inexperienced back line into making errors or turning over possession in dangerous areas. City were class but you don't need me to tell you that, given how much of a well oiled machine they've become under Pep. I was always fearing another loss, but the nature and scoreline of the loss is what's made me so angry.
We need to sort out positive transfers. Our midfield needs a revamp. We also need to offload some poor players, that, to be honest, are going to be useless to us in the years going forward. Jorginho has been poor for a good while. Azpi has become a club favourite but has started to show real decline. We signed Koulibaly as a Rudiger replacement but it's starting to appear like he's past his best, which isn't something you want in a Premier League defence.
Our current youth players may lack experience at the moment in places but at least they show that fight and desire unlike the rest of our team. I thought Hutchinson was better today. Hall continues to impress at LB. Carney didn't have much time to make an impact but has shown in the past why he deserves to start. Wth the Top 4 race all but over, surely we can afford to give these players a bit more development?
The league game on Thursday against Fulham is a crucial one, because if we win it we can move up the table slightly, moving not far behind the teams around us, that are hovering just outside the European slots. If we lose it we sink further. Potter has to realise after this game the issues in this team, and while it'll take a while for us to fully iron them out, we can at least make small improvements as we go.