Chelsea could be in a top 4 freefall

With Chelsea struggling to kill off games, their points tally have not matched the two Manchester clubs above them and now they are definitely not in the three horse race at the top but in a four horse race for 3^rd and 4^th. This was unexpected for me as at the start of the season people were not talking of Chelsea as title contenders and I leapt to their defence, with their new signings and Di Matteo as manager they looked like table topping candidates. However these strengths were turned upside down when Di Matteo was unjustly sacked and Torres continued to falter. Then as if Abramovich was trying to torture Chelsea fans, he bought in their worst nightmare to lead the club, Rafa Benetiz. This combination has left Chelsea one point ahead of Tottenham, four ahead of Everton and 5 ahead of Arsenal while they sit sixteen points of leaders United. This is stark reality of their situation, three hungry teams sit within touching distance behind them while they slip further and further away from the Manchester Clubs.

I hate to rule a team off but their title race has been over for a while and now they are battling for their champions league spot. Tottenham are really picking up points and have match winner Bale snatching them points when they look to be losing them while Chelsea haven’t got this. Where they were killing teams off they now seem to be holding off and allowing teams come back into the game and stealing points. Arsenal look they have the ability to win ugly with their victory over Stoke proving they want to get over their labelling as a weak team. While Everton’s usual strong end to the season looks teed up by a great start, their point tally could definitely be high enough. So what has gone wrong at Chelsea? They are a team in transition ultimately but so have Manchester United been to a degree and they’ve been battling in the top two without fail. The lack of stability at Chelsea looks to leave them in trouble once again but what I wonder is whether Chelsea will slip from the top 4 altogether and what it could mean to them. The risk is really there with such in form challengers around them but can they afford to not finish in the top 4 for a 2^nd consecutive season? Last season their successful Champions League campaign drew In some of Europe’s elite but will they be able to draw that quality in again without Europe’s top competition?

Anything out of the top 4 would be a huge disappointment for Chelsea and their future looks a bit glum unless they can get the stability a top team needs. They have already lost out on Pep Guardiola and the instability of the club tipped as one of the reasons why Pep ended up in Germany rather than London. Maybe with the Mourinho rumours circulating again Chelsea may have an answer to their trouble in the future but for now they must attempt to keep their Champions League spot safe and kill off games like they used to if they want to really up their points tally.