Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea were a chaotic mess, bereft of confidence and leadership, on their way to securing another trip to Wembley…
Chelsea are a step away from their sixth FA Cup final in eight years. Which would be an impressive feat if the numbers told even half of their story.
These Blues reached another Wembley semi-final with a last-gasp win over Leicester that featured some of the good, plenty of the bad and a bit of the ugly around Mauricio Pochettino’s slapdash squad.
All the numbers aside from their league position contradict what our eyes tell us about Chelsea. Today, they had 26 shots to the Foxes’ five, eight on target compared to one from the visitors, which was all they needed for two goals. Against a side with priorities elsewhere, passage ought to have been so much simpler than the manner it was eventually achieved.
Most damningly on Pochettino and his players, Chelsea’s failure to establish an two-goal lead after a curiously-easy opener for Marc Cucurella highlighted the leadership void holding back the Blues.
Raheem Sterling was awarded a penalty midway through the first-half when Abdul Fatawu went through the forward’s standing foot, planted to shoot. For the second time this season, in the same box, a needless debate took place over who should take it.
The conclusion reached, even without the benefit of hindsight, should have seen Cole Palmer step up to the spot once more. He had the ball, having scored all of his last five, one of which Sterling tried to take off him against Arsenal. Then, Enzo Fernandez had to intervene to ensure it was Palmer who took the responsibility. With Fernandez suspended and no one else present to back up the youngster, Sterling took the ball – and a truly dreadful penalty.
Palmer, full of confidence in possession but evidently still subservient to his senior team-mate, should stand up for himself. But, in this situation, he should not have to.
Sterling’s personal desire for a goal amid a wretched run of form is understandable but as the oldest and most senior player in the Chelsea XI, side before self was the responsible approach.
Pochettino must shoulder some responsibility here too. After the Arsenal kerfuffle, the manager said: “There are a few players who can take the penalty. It is about their feelings. As a coaching staff, we give them the responsibility to decide on the pitch.”
These Chelsea players have yet to demonstrate that they can handle such responsibility or deserve it. Pochettino may preach empowerment, but allowing such a repeat and this outcome was to shirk his own responsibility.
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Sterling was becoming uncomfortable to watch. The forward seemed to shrink as he bore down on goal, one on one with Leicester’s stand-in stopper. His finish betrayed his abject lack of confidence – at least his penalty worked Jakub Stolarczyk. This one sailed hopelessly wide in front of the howling Foxes’ fans.
Mercifully, his next action was affirmative and required little thought, so simple was it to get behind Leicester’s centre-backs, their lack of pace exposed by AWOL full-backs more concerned with pushing into midfield. Sterling nodded a loose ball into the chasm behind Jannik Vestergaard and played the simplest of passes across goal for Palmer, evidently more eager than Callum Doyle to win their race.
Two up at the break, that should have been it. But, Chelsea.
Those who expected Leicester to preserve their energy for more pressing Championship matters rather than expend it on an unlikely comeback were not accounting for Chelsea’s capacity for self-destruction.
The own-goal offering Leicester their lifeline was, frankly, hilarious. After receiving a throw-in taken halfway inside the visitors’ half, Axel Disasi turned back towards Chelsea’s net and, under the mere hint of pressure, shanked a backpass straight into it, with Sanchez utterly perplexed on the edge of his box.
The goalkeeper offered Disasi a tender consolation kiss while, presumably, Pochettino thirsted for some rougher love. With the deficit halved, there wasn’t a Blue inside Stamford Bridge who didn’t know what was coming, even if Stephy Mavididi’s leveller just after the hour caught everyone off-guard with the quality of its creation and execution.
Few could blame the home fans for venting their frustration, especially after Sterling again pulled rank when another penalty was downgraded to a free-kick on the very edge of the Leicester box. From 18 yards, Sterling took a different approach – power over precision – to the one that failed him from 12. He missed the target by 20.
Chelsea fans booed Raheem Sterling after he blasted a free kick over the bar.#BBCFootball #FACup pic.twitter.com/aIAe6cq3fP
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) March 17, 2024
Boos followed, as they did around Mykhaylo Mudryk’s withdrawal while Sterling remained on the pitch. When Sterling was eventually put out of his misery, on 86 minutes, we all braced for more jeers. But, perhaps sensing Sterling’s dark mood and already-shot confidence, his departure was largely applauded while, either side of Pochettino’s second change, Chelsea failed to shift their man-shy opponents.
Those changes at least offer Pochettino a shield of sorts for all that went before. His first two substitutes scored the goals that eventually killed off the Foxes’ resistance, each a consequence of individual moments of inspiration rather than any structural or systemic triumph.
Carney Chukwuemeka celebrates helping Chelsea to Wembley with substitute goal
Carney Chukwuemeka’s combination with Palmer highlighted once more how Chelsea rely on the England call-up’s creativity, and the relief that followed prompted the positivity evident in Noni Madueke’s run and strike on the stroke of full-time.
Passage into the semi-finals, though, is unlikely to offer Pochettino much respite. The prospect of another Wembley trip will not enhance his approval rating at Stamford Bridge after another perplexing, infuriating performance.
