Chelsea’s season is in danger of becoming a complete failure. On Sunday, despite being relatively competitive in the first half, the Blues were ultimately easily beaten 3-0 by Manchester City, conceding three times in 17 minutes.
Following losses at the hands of Newcastle and Everton, Chelsea have now suffered three successive Premier League defeats without scoring for the first time since March 1998—actually a sequence of four. That grim run in the late 1990s ultimately cost Ruud Gullit his job; he was sacked and replaced by Gianluca Vialli, who steered the club to a fourth-place finish while winning both the League Cup and UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup.
Twenty-eight years on, Liam Rosenior would certainly settle for similar silverware and a return to the Champions League. Yet the parallels, while tempting, feel increasingly fragile. Rosenior did win his first four Premier League matches upon arriving at Stamford Bridge, but since then his side have yielded just five points from seven outings. Their sole victory in that period came at Villa Park on 7 February. As a result, Chelsea remain sixth in the table—four points behind Liverpool and seven adrift of Aston Villa—with Brentford, Everton, Brighton and Sunderland either one or two points behind. There is, though, still so much to play for.
The upcoming week or so could prove defining for Rosenior’s tenure. Next Saturday night, third-placed Manchester United visit Stamford Bridge in a game that feels like a must-win if Chelsea are to arrest their slide and secure a first league victory at home since January. Three nights later they travel to in-form Brighton & Hove Albion, before an FA Cup semi-final against fierce rivals Leeds United at Wembley on Sunday 26 April.
The Blues failed to beat Daniel Farke’s side either home or away this season, so they cannot take the West Yorkshire outfit lightly. Yet reaching the final would hand Chelsea a genuine shot at silverware—even if Manchester City remain the most likely opponents and firm favourites.
Chelsea’s remaining fixtures offer a clear snapshot of the challenge ahead:
- Saturday 18 April: Manchester United – Stamford Bridge (8pm)
- Tuesday 21 April: Brighton & Hove Albion – Falmer Stadium (8pm)
- Sunday 26 April: Leeds United – Wembley (FA Cup semi-final, 3pm)
- Monday 4 May: Nottingham Forest – Stamford Bridge (3pm)
- Saturday 9 May: Liverpool – Anfield (12:30pm)
- Saturday 16 May: Potential FA Cup Final vs Manchester City or Southampton
- Sunday 17 May: Tottenham Hotspur – Stamford Bridge (TBC, subject to cup progress)
- Sunday 24 May: Sunderland – Stadium of Light (4pm)
In short, Rosenior’s side are mirroring the 1997/98 campaign in one crucial respect: a mid-season managerial change. Back then it sparked a revival that delivered top-four football and two trophies. This time, Champions League qualification remains mathematically possible, and the FA Cup still offers a route to glory. But with six testing league fixtures remaining, a top-five finish now looks a long shot.
Should Chelsea finish in the Europa League or, worse, the Conference League, it is hard to imagine BlueCo standing pat. Gary O’Neil, currently head coach at Strasbourg, has already been linked with a potential return to the dugout at Stamford Bridge. For now, though, Rosenior’s immediate task is simpler and more urgent: stop the rot, rediscover the early promise of his reign, and prove that the nightmare record equalled on Sunday is not the beginning of another chapter of chaos—but merely a bump on the road to recovery.