Chelsea may be through to the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League, but the boos that followed their surprise defeat by Legia Warsaw summed up the current mood of dissent at Stamford Bridge.
A 2-1 loss in the home second leg to the Polish side made little difference to the tie’s outcome as the Blues confirmed a last-four meeting with Djurgarden by way of a 4-2 aggregate success.
But the manner in which they succumbed to defeat, despite a strong starting line-up, left anger among the faithful in the stands as the players failed to rise to manager Enzo Maresca’s pre-match challenge to “engage” the fans.
It also prompted captain Reece James to front up afterwards and admit it was a “poor performance”, while appearing to question the preparation of his team for an encounter that was settled by Steve Kapuadi’s 53rd-minute winner after Blues left-back Marc Cucurella had cancelled out a penalty opener from Tomas Pekhart.
“We had a 3-0 lead, maybe that played a part in taking our foot off the gas,” said James, 25. “We are making progress but that was not progress. If anything it was a step back.
“Maybe we disrespected the competition. If you don’t prepare right, you will pay.
“It’s going to affect the mindset. It’s going to be in the back of people’s heads. I understand the frustration. Fans come to see excitement, we were frustrating to watch.”
Boss Maresca felt Chelsea “probably” did not respect Legia enough rather than the competition, and felt the Stamford Bridge “environment was good” as his side try to deal with increased pressure in the climax to the season.
“I didn’t see any bad moments from the fans,” added the Italian, whose side face a west London derby at Fulham on Sunday in their pursuit of a top-five Premier League place. “I already said after the last game we need to engage them, so it’s what we have to do.
“We are not happy with the defeat, probably after winning the first leg 3-0 we tried to manage things a little bit, tried to avoid injury, rotate players with an important game on Sunday.”
Chelsea are now worryingly without an away win in eight league games, dating back to a thrilling 4-3 success at Tottenham on 8 December.
Although they were also unbeaten in eight matches at home in all competitions before the defeat by Legia, the performances have not been convincing enough to appease supporters who demand and expect better from their expensively-assembled squad and raft of internationals.
Recent results, including a goalless draw at Brentford followed by a 2-2 home draw against relegation-threatened Ipswich, have also dropped them to sixth in the table, leaving them with a tough task of reaching the Champions League next season.
Newcastle have moved up to third spot after a run of good form, while Manchester City are a point clear of Chelsea in fifth spot and Aston Villa in seventh, but level on 54 points with Maresca’s men.
With six games to go, no team can afford to slip up, but Maresca remained upbeat as he added: “We lost a game. The other clubs like Villa, Newcastle have more confidence around them but things in football can change quickly. Sunday, for us, is a final and can be a boost to reach our target.”
What is also providing concern for Chelsea is the various goal droughts happening simultaneously among the attacking players in all competitions:
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Cole Palmer is 15 games without a goal
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Nicolas Jackson is 12 games without a goal
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Christopher Nkunku is eight games without a goal.
Jadon Sancho was also on a four-month, 21-game goal drought before scoring against Ipswich last Sunday.
Maresca said he started Palmer and Jackson – who have both had spells out injured – against Legia to increase their physical condition, but hoped for a “boost” to their confidence if they could score.
The fact that Spanish left-back Cucurella is Chelsea’s top scorer with six goals since 15 December highlights their struggles up front.
“We are missing very easy goals,” admitted Maresca. “In the first five minute, we had two chances, but it can happen. Hopefully, very soon Nico and Cole can start to score goals because they are very important for us.
“The one scoring at the moment is Cucurella. That is not a good thing because he is not the one to score the goals.”
