Why this Chelsea player calls major January transfer decision “confusing” | OneFootball

While Chelsea fans have been concerned about their team’s declining form since Christmas, it’s only now that their plunging points per game record and unceremonious dumping out of both domestic cups has led to the wider footballing world waking up to how serious this dip in form is.

One person who’s been watching it all the way through, however, is Pat Nevin.

The former Blues winger watches our every game, and his thoughts on the team at the moment echo those of most fans:

“Chelsea currently look like the team wobbling most [in the top half of the table], with only nine points from the last 24 available. This is not good enough form for a place in the winners’ paddock,” Nevin wrote in this week’s edition of the BBC Football Extra email newsletter.

“They need to sort out a settled central defence, that seems to change every single week. A fit and scoring centre forward would help as the extra weight on Cole Palmer will surely slow him down at some point,” Nevin pointed out. Some would argue that Palmer already has been slowed down.

“This made the release of Joao Felix all the more confusing, as he is Palmer’s obvious understudy if the club’s big star gets injured. Worrying times at the Bridge as financially they need Champions League football and they need it soon.”

Problems are clear – but solutions less obvious

Joao Felix celebrates a debut goal for AC Milan. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Everyone can see our problems – now we just have to wait and see what Enzo Maresca and those in charge can do to fix them before this dip becomes a disaster. A win on Friday puts us right back on track – but on the evidence of our performance against the same opposition last weekend, there are no guarantees of that.