Chelsea’s season plumbed new depths in Tuesday’s 3-1 loss to Arsenal, not just in that it was the sixth defeat of Frank Lampard’s six-game reign but also the manner in which the team seemed to disintegrate in the first half.
It is difficult to see where the team’s next win is coming from, and with three of the top four still to play as well as a trip to buoyant Bournemouth on Saturday, it may not come until August.
Here, the PA news agency looks at what has gone wrong and what hope this team have for the future.
How much worse can it get?
Materially, the answer appears to be ‘not much’. The team are not going to be relegated, though on current form that might be certain only because the season will run out of games before Chelsea run out of points.
The concern now is about what damage is being done to the players, staff and supporters psychologically on this desperately poor run-in, and how much time it will take to repair.
For a team this expensively assembled to lose six in a row – part of a winless run of eight during which only two goals have been scored – speaks to something more serious than a side lacking confidence and form.
Chelsea played like strangers in losing to Arsenal, world-class players seemingly unable to perform. The squad seem in a state of shock. The road back will not be straightforward.
What can be done in the short term?
The club appear to be damned whichever direction they move in.
Nobody could have predicted the speed or extent to which Lampard has looked out of his depth, but making yet another change barely a month after the latest one would not reflect well on the club.
Equally, putting the next permanent manager in the dugout now rather than letting him start with the spotlight off during the close-season could short-circuit the reboot at its inception.
Is there any good news?
Yes – the season is only five games from being over, but that could also be the bad news if losses keep piling up.
Yet for all the criticism of the way Todd Boehly has gone about Chelsea’s business, he has in an albeit wasteful and roundabout way assembled many of the parts that the club need in order to be a force again.
In Enzo Fernandez they have a genuine star of world football around whom a truly great team can be built, while Joao Felix – if he stays – is a game-changing talent with limitless potential.
Benoit Badiashile and Mykhailo Mudryk are fine young players starting to show signs of acclimatisation, and Wesley Fofana has hinted in flashes at why he was so highly regarded during his time at Leicester.
Scoring goals is a problem, and Christopher Nkunku – when he arrives from RB Leipzig in the summer – could be part of the solution.
Yet there remains the absence of a clinical, proven goalscorer and it is hard to see this team competing next season without one.
Could Pochettino be the man to turn things around?
This is another reason for supporters not to abandon hope. Mauricio Pochettino looks a decent fit for the urgent work that needs doing, with a proven record of transforming a squad of callow hopefuls into performers on the very biggest stage.
He ticks a lot of the boxes: tactical nous; good with young players; able to handle mature stars and their not-so-mature egos; charismatic.
Yet there is an almost unprecedented rebuild required at the club, and what success he has enjoyed in the past will not be a guarantee of anything.
If he is to turn things around, it will not happen overnight. But if anybody is going to get the club back on track, Pochettino looks as good a bet as anybody on the market.
Burnley secure first Premier League win with last-gasp victory at Luton
Jacob Bruun Larsen’s dramatic winner snatched Burnley their first Premier League win of the season – a 2-1 victory at Luton.
The Dane’s goal-of-the-season contender came after Lyle Foster’s opener had been cancelled out by Hatters striker Elijah Adebayo.
Rob Edwards’ side were left to rue missed chances once again as they failed to build on Saturday’s 2-1 win at Everton.
Carlton Morris set the tone in the opening seconds when he closed down goalkeeper James Trafford’s clearance and minutes later his strike from inside the box went narrowly wide as the hosts looked for an early opener.
Burnley were second-best for the first 20 minutes, but Vincent Kompany’s men rode the storm and began to enjoy some success.
Clarets forward Zeki Amdouni tested Thomas Kaminski with a header from a corner that forced an acrobatic save from the Belgian to keep the score level.
This came shortly before Josh Brownhill had fired a warning shot from distance which narrowly avoided Kaminski’s top corner.
The chance of the half came in the 33rd minute. Alfie Doughty found wing-back partner Issa Kabore and he sent over a cross in search of Morris but the ball fell kindly for Chiedozie Ogbene, whose diving header was inches away from nestling inside Trafford’s post.
However, it was Burnley who struck first in time added on in the first half.
Sander Berge did well to find Foster and he beat Tom Lockyer in a foot race to tuck his effort away.
The Hatters almost equalised when Doughty’s inch-perfect corner found the head of Morris and his glancing header went inches wide.
Substitute Adebayo found the head of Jacob Brown who was denied by Josh Cullen on the line as the tide began to turn with 25 minutes to go.
After Morris was denied a penalty, his header missed the target once again as it started to feel like it was not going to be the Hatters’ night.
But it was Adebayo who grabbed Luton the goal they deserved after 84 minutes.
Reece Burke got on the end of a deep cross and provided the knockdown to the striker, who sorted his feet out and tapped home to level.
But their joy was short-lived as Burnley scored a second a minute later to stun Kenilworth Road into silence.
Bruun Larsen cut inside and produced an outstanding curled effort which found the top corner in front of the away fans.
Luton searched for a second equaliser during seven added minutes but it was not to be and Burnley held on for the win to move up to 18th in the table.
That’s wrong Daz – panicked VAR recording of Luis Diaz disallowed goal released
The audio recording of the discussion between the match officials that led to Luis Diaz’s goal being wrongly disallowed has been made public, with VAR Darren England swearing twice upon being told of his mistake.
Diaz was incorrectly adjudged to have been offside on the field after netting in the first half of Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat at Tottenham on Saturday, a decision which was not over-ruled by England and his assistant Daniel Cook.
Liverpool asked for a recording of what happened and Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) has taken the step to publicly release the communication into how the bungled verdict was reached.
PGMOL said England “lost sight of the on-field decision” due to “a lapse of concentration and loss of focus”.
In the recording, England says “check complete, check complete. That’s fine, perfect” before the replay operator and then Cook question whether the correct decision has been made.
“Offside, goal, yeah. That’s wrong that, Daz,” Cook is heard saying.
England swears upon realising the error and then says “they’ve restarted the game. Can’t do anything, can’t do anything” as the replay operator makes repeated calls to delay the match.
England then issues another expletive before the tape finishes, the end of an incident in which PGMOL, the referees’ body, admitted immediately after the match that a “significant human error” had occurred.
Liverpool said “sporting integrity has been undermined”, while they released a statement the following day indicating they would explore their options given the “clear need for escalation and resolution”.
PGMOL said in a statement accompanying the audio: “After the on-field officials had disallowed the goal for offside, the checking phase and process started and was carried out correctly by the VAR.
“In a lapse of concentration and loss of focus in that moment, the VAR lost sight of the on-field decision and he incorrectly communicated ‘check complete’, therefore inadvertently confirming the on-field decision. He did this without any dialogue with the AVAR (assistant VAR).
“The match then restarted immediately. After a few seconds, the replay operator and then the AVAR queried the check-complete outcome with the VAR and asked him to review the image that had been created, pointing out that the original on-field decision had been offside, but this was not communicated to the on-field team at any point during the match.
“The VAR team then gave consideration as to whether the game could be stopped at that point, however the VAR and AVAR concluded that the VAR protocol within the laws of the game would not permit that to happen, and they decided intervention was not possible as play had restarted.”
England and Cook have not been included among the officials for duty in the coming weekend’s Premier League fixtures.
The pair had already been replaced for the remainder of their matchweek seven duties – England was due to be fourth official at Nottingham Forest v Brentford on Sunday, with Cook scheduled to be assistant referee for Monday’s Fulham-Chelsea clash.
PGMOL has vowed to learn from this incident, stressing accuracy over all else, including efficiency, to its video match officials and, from now on, a VAR must confer with their AVAR in the check process before relaying the final decision to the on-field officials.
The Premier League announced a wider review of VAR, amid scathing criticism in the fallout of what happened at the weekend, is set to be held in conjunction with the PGMOL.
A Premier League spokesperson said: “It is clear that there were not only human errors but systemic weaknesses in the VAR process. We accept PGMOL’s immediate recommendations to ensure that such failures are not repeated in the future.
“However, a wider review to seek consistently higher standards of VAR performance will be conducted by the Premier League and PGMOL, supported by other stakeholders, and where necessary further recommended actions will be brought forward and implemented.
“We have communicated fully with Liverpool FC on this matter and have shared PGMOL’s findings and relevant footage of the incident with all Premier League clubs.”
England and Cook have come under further scrutiny since Saturday after it was reported they were part of a refereeing team in the United Arab Emirates two days before the Tottenham-Liverpool match.
PGMOL added: “PGMOL and The FA have also agreed to review the policy to allow match officials to officiate matches outside of FIFA or UEFA appointments.”
‘A loss of focus’ – VAR recording of Luis Diaz disallowed goal released
The audio recording of the discussion between the match officials that led to Luis Diaz’s goal being wrongly disallowed has been made public, with VAR Darren England swearing twice upon being told of his mistake.
Diaz was incorrectly adjudged to have been offside on the field after netting in the first half of Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat at Tottenham on Saturday, a decision which was not over-ruled by England and his assistant Daniel Cook.
Liverpool asked for a recording of what happened and Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) has taken the step to publicly release the communication into how the bungled verdict was reached.
PGMOL said England “lost sight of the on-field decision” due to “a lapse of concentration and loss of focus”.
In the recording, England says “check complete, check complete. That’s fine, perfect” before the replay operator and then Cook question whether the correct decision has been made.
England swears upon realising the error and then says “they’ve restarted the game. Can’t do anything, can’t do anything” as the replay operator makes repeated calls to delay the match.
England then issues another expletive before the tape finishes, the end of an incident in which PGMOL, the referees’ body, admitted immediately after the match that a “significant human error” had occurred.
Liverpool said “sporting integrity has been undermined”, while they released a statement the following day indicating they would explore their options given the “clear need for escalation and resolution”.
PGMOL said in a statement accompanying the audio: “After the on-field officials had disallowed the goal for offside, the checking phase and process started and was carried out correctly by the VAR.
“In a lapse of concentration and loss of focus in that moment, the VAR lost sight of the on-field decision and he incorrectly communicated ‘check complete’, therefore inadvertently confirming the on-field decision. He did this without any dialogue with the AVAR (assistant VAR).
“The match then restarted immediately. After a few seconds, the replay operator and then the AVAR queried the check-complete outcome with the VAR and asked him to review the image that had been created, pointing out that the original on-field decision had been offside, but this was not communicated to the on-field team at any point during the match.
“The VAR team then gave consideration as to whether the game could be stopped at that point, however the VAR and AVAR concluded that the VAR protocol within the laws of the game would not permit that to happen, and they decided intervention was not possible as play had restarted.”
England and Cook have not been included among the officials for duty in the coming weekend’s Premier League fixtures.
The pair had already been replaced for the remainder of their matchweek seven duties – England was due to be fourth official at Nottingham Forest v Brentford on Sunday, with Cook scheduled to be assistant referee for Monday’s Fulham-Chelsea clash.
PGMOL has vowed to learn from this incident, stressing accuracy over all else, including efficiency, to its video match officials and, from now on, a VAR must confer with their AVAR in the check process before relaying the final decision to the on-field officials.
The Premier League announced a wider review of VAR, amid scathing criticism in the fallout of what happened at the weekend, is set to be held in conjunction with the PGMOL.
A Premier League spokesperson said: “It is clear that there were not only human errors but systemic weaknesses in the VAR process. We accept PGMOL’s immediate recommendations to ensure that such failures are not repeated in the future.
“However, a wider review to seek consistently higher standards of VAR performance will be conducted by the Premier League and PGMOL, supported by other stakeholders, and where necessary further recommended actions will be brought forward and implemented.
“We have communicated fully with Liverpool FC on this matter and have shared PGMOL’s findings and relevant footage of the incident with all Premier League clubs.”
England and Cook have come under further scrutiny since Saturday after it was reported they were part of a refereeing team in the United Arab Emirates two days before the Tottenham-Liverpool match.
PGMOL added: “PGMOL and The FA have also agreed to review the policy to allow match officials to officiate matches outside of FIFA or UEFA appointments.”
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