Maresca's Unceasing Rotation Leaves Chelsea in a Spin.

While The Blues didn't entirely destroy their hopes of ending up in the top eight of the Bigger Cup opening phase, they executed a precise, surgical strike on their own hopes of waltzing straight into the round of 16. Of course, the silver lining is that in the short one-year history of the new and not-necessarily-improved tournament, achieving a place in the top eight isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

The Central Concern: A Predictable Lack of Consistency

Sadly for the club's supporters, the only consistent thing about the Chelsea team is a monotonously predictable inconsistency, which has been much remarked upon following their loss in Italy. After seemingly confirming their credentials with an commanding victory of a European giant, followed by a feisty stalemate with a London rival, Chelsea have been stuffed by a Championship side, played out a snoozy stalemate at the south coast club and have now lost against a average team from Italy's top flight.

Although critics have been eager to point the finger on a team selection approach that appears to see the coach rotate his team like a kebab shop’s elephant leg of doner meat, the manager insists that, injuries and suspensions aside, the nucleus of his first eleven for big matches is largely set in stone.

“I think in that game, starting team, we had on the field eight, nine players that featured against Spurs, they played against Barcelona, they played against Wolves, Arsenal,” he stated. “We had most of the regulars that are the ones consistently selected for matches of this magnitude. So if you look at the several alterations that we did from the previous game, it’s a different situation.”

What Comes Next

For a genuine opportunity of escaping the Bigger Cup playoff round, they will have to win their final two group games. First up, they welcome this season’s surprise package Pafos, before heading back to Italy to face the Italian title holders, Napoli.

“Victories in both are required, if not, we will face the playoff and then go to the following stage,” remarked the Italian coach, whose following fixture is a match against an Merseyside team whose recent consistency has propelled them to the dizzy heights of seventh in the Premier League.

Side Stories

Quote of the Day: “It's interesting, it’s actually funny because his biggest dream was me turning pro in golf. That was his ultimate ambition. So when I was 10, he pushed me to take up golf. So I practiced every week from when I was 10 to 13” – Erling Haaland explained how, if his father had his preference, he could have been on the golf course rather than scoring goals in the Premier League.

Readers' Letters

“Well, no wonder Wolves are in such a sad state. As any regular reader of this email will know, the only good pre-match protests involve marching from a pub that the supporters intended to visit anyway, to the stadium that they were always going to. Just arriving 10 minutes late? That’s how long it takes fans to get to their seats anyway” – one reader.

“I note that one correspondent not only got Tuesday’s featured letter, but also a name check in another reader's letter. On a night where both Sheffield teams again dropped points after leading, I am wondering: could the city be proving that the frequency of representation in your letters section is inversely related to the success of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – another fan.