Chelsea have a Premier League-high six red cards this season. That number jumps to eight across all competitions. Nine if you include a red card to (former) manager Enzo Maresca.
The latest came against Burnley at the weekend, with Wesley Fofana sent off for two yellow cards.
Chelsea went on to draw against Burnley, with more dropped points at home. The Blues have dropped 19 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season. Seventeen of those have come at Stamford Bridge. It was a result which saw Chelsea suffer another blow in the race for a top four finish.
And, again, there was a red card to blame.
In this article we’ll cover
Why do they keep getting red cards?
The reasoning behind Chelsea’s eight red cards this season is certainly worrying for Blues fans.
Three straight reds were for needless fouls denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity. Robert Sanchez was sent off against Manchester United, Trevoh Chalobah against Brighton and Hove Albion and Marc Cucurella vs Fulham. The latter had all tried to prevent the opposition attacker from getting into a one-on-one situation.
Perhaps it’s because they grew as a team under Maresca, becoming tougher physically and more spikey in the press. But due to the team’s age and lack of leaders, the challenges often made are over the top and too assertive. Moises Caicedo received the other straight red card, for a bad tackle in a fiery affair against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.
The other four red cards were all for two bookings. Even Maresca’s sending off was for two bookings — the later for overcelebrating a late winner against Liverpool. It was careless from the then-Chelsea boss. And careless can be used to describe of lot of Chelsea’s red cards.
In players making last-ditch actions to stop a player from scoring, Chelsea have suffered for the rest of the game. They may have been better off conceding the goal and trying to get back into the game with 11 men.
The red cards have also been indicative of how much Chelsea have struggled with fast balls in behind. Both in the air and on the floor.
Malo Gusto (vs Nottingham Forest) and Fofana’s against Burnley came because both defenders were pushed up high aggressively, challenging for the ball. And those have come across two different managers.
Rosenior hasn’t reverted from Maresca’s tactics there, because it enables Chelsea to retrieve the ball against sides that play a low or stubborn block.
Chelsea’s other two red cards have come in the Champions League and Carabao Cup, with Joao Pedro and Liam Delap seeing red, respectively, for needless second yellow cards. Delap, in particular, received his two yellow cards for fouls inside seven minutes of each other — and within 25 minutes of coming off the bench.
As Rosenior said, the London club have “set fire” to points and getting all those red cards has contributed.
The tough run-in
Rosenior was visibly frustrated at dropping silly points to Leeds United and Burnley. That’s probably because he knows how tough Chelsea’s fixture list is.
There were some early warning signs against West Ham United — though the Blues did manage to overcome their London rivals. But two points in the last two league games against promoted sides were disappointing. And Chelsea will have to improve against tougher opposition.
Arsenal are up next in the Premier League, before a trip to Villa Park to face Aston Villa. Newcastle United, Everton, Manchester City, Manchester United and Brighton make up the following fixtures.
Those are some very tricky games, against teams who are either fighting for Europe or the title. If that wasn’t bad enough, Chelsea still have to go to Anfield and the Stadium of Light before the end of the season.
Bar the Carabao Cup, we haven’t seen what Rosenior can do in big games. And in the cup Rosenior’s tactic was to stay in the tie for as long as possible, before going for broke late on.
If Chelsea are to miss out on a Champions League place, sacking Maresca could very well look like a misstep. But big teams are still capable of salvaging results when they don’t have the best of campaigns. We’ve seen it with Man City last season.
If Rosenior and Chelsea are to do the same this season, he will need to muster some of Maresca’s finest skills in the Stamford Bridge dugout. The Blues always looked terrific in big matches under Maresca.
Rosenior’s frustrations are correct, with the run-in his Chelsea side have coming up he has every right to be worried.