As another international break disrupts life, Chelsea are having some kind of breakdown, according to chief psychiatrist Morrie Sarri.
How else to explain an incoherent collapse at Goodison Park after Chelsea had dominated play in the first half against Everton, but failed to score?
“It’s probably a mental block, I think,” said the manager, wearing a white coat and reclining on a couch. “We have this problem. It’s a big limit for us, because we lost a similar match away at Wolverhampton and today in the same way.”
The difficulty for fans, who are eager to understand and empathise, is that the pronouncement comes with no explanation.
So although Eden Hazard hit the post, Gonzalo Higuain squandered opportunities and Olivier Giroud failed to score, no theory is advanced.
“It is difficult for the players to explain, but it is probably a mental block, I think,” said Sarri.
But why, Morrie? Why? If there’s one thing oligarch owners can’t stand it’s dithering, and Sarri’s displays of bewildered hand-wringing after poor results can only hasten his departure.
The manager will get time and space to defeat Slavia Prague over two legs in April (he did well in Kiev) but he’ll clear his desk in May.
Meanwhile, no sooner was poor old Ruben Loftus-Cheek named in the England squad than he had withdrawn again, citing injury. If ever a player needed improved luck...
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
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