All is not well at Chelsea ahead of their weekend visit of champions Liverpool, with manager Enzo Maresca described as a “dead man walking.”
The Reds head to Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon as the newly crowned Premier League winners, with a guard of honour coming their way.
Arne Slot‘s side take on a Chelsea team who have a lot to play for, though, as they look to seal Champions League qualification.
Ahead of Sunday’s match, we spoke to Blues fan Richard Long (@Chelseafan_Rick) to discuss the season as a whole, Liverpool’s title win and much more.
How happy are you with Chelsea’s season?
There’s no sugarcoating it, it’s been a disastrous season.
Qualifying for Champions League should have been a given and our performance in the domestic cups has been so disappointing.
Given the amount we’ve spent and some of the players in our team, we should have achieved so much more.
There have been murmurs of discontent with Maresca? Is that fair?
I think that’s a massive understatement, to be fair.
Enzo Maresca has now lost the vast majority of the fans and it feels like we are sleepwalking into his eventual departure.
The football is reminiscent of “Sarri-ball” in that it focuses on possession, passing and controlling the game.
The problem is the fans demand entertainment, and if you are going to play that style of football, you need to be winning games, which isn’t happening.
Maresca refuses to adapt his style of football and continues to talk down what the team’s ambitions should be.
This had led to fans feeling apathetic about the current team and season. Dead man walking!
What would be a successful season for Chelsea now?
Realistically, we need to secure Champions League football for next season and win the Europa Conference League.
That really is the bare minimum, and given where the club should be, I think you will see very muted celebrations from the fans if we achieve those targets.
Who have been Chelsea’s best players this season?
Despite his recent dropoff, Cole Palmer has again been excellent for us.
He’s at the heart of everything we do going forward and is one of the very best players in the world.
At this point, it’s a question of how long we will be able to keep him until he grows tired of being the best performer at our circus.
Moises Caicedo has been fantastic again. There’s no defensive midfielder I’d swap him for in the league and it feels like we have found our Kante 2.0.
Marc Cucurella has has comfortably his best season for us. He has been a rock at the back and added an attacking threat to his game.
Again, it will be a matter of time before he leaves if things don’t improve and he will go to a club competing at the very top level.
How do you assess Liverpool’s season? Worthy champions?
The season can’t be seen as anything other than a huge success after winning the title.
The aim at the start of the season would have been to steady the ship, following Jurgen Klopp‘s departure, and finish in the top four with a strong run in the cups.
Full credit to Arne Slot for what he’s achieved – Liverpool are certainly worthy champions.
That said, the quality of the league has dropped off a cliff this season and the likes of Arsenal and Man City were decimated with injuries to their core players.
I would be astonished if Slot ever had it this easy again!
If you could take one Liverpool player at Chelsea, who would it be and why?
He’s past his best for sure, but I would have Virgil van Dijk in an instant.
We have no leadership, no structure and a lack of ability at centre-back.
He would transform our defence and provide some much-needed organisation to the team.
What is your favourite and worst memory of any game against Liverpool?
My favourite memory is Frank Lampard’s penalty in the second leg of the Champions League 2008 semi-final.
The rivalry between the clubs had never been bigger and neither had the occasion.
Lampard’s mother had passed away just a few days beforehand, and the whole moment before and after he took the penalty just felt like a combustion of emotion.
I don’t think I will ever forget that moment.
Another semi-final between the clubs in 2005 brought the worst memory, though.
The ghost goal by Luis Garcia is still something that haunts Chelsea fans to this day – it definitely didn’t cross the line!
To add salt in the wound, I saw a picture of Garcia trolling Chelsea fans during Halloween a few years ago, posting a photo of him recreating the goal in his back garden in full ghost attire!
Looking ahead to Sunday, where are the key battles?
In Robert Sanchez, we probably have the worst goalkeeper in the league. The biggest battle will be between him and whoever gets a shot on target.
It’s gone past the point of being angry at him for making mistakes to feeling sorry for him. He’s the worst ‘keeper I have ever seen play for us.
I think it will be a good match-up in central midfield, and seeing which team can dominate that battle.
There’s naturally some bad blood with Liverpool and both Caicedo and Romeo Lavia, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see it get quite feisty at times!
Finally, what’s your prediction?
I will go for 2-1 to Chelsea.
That’s very much on the assumption that Liverpool have been on the piss all week, though!
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