Beto Blazes, Chelsea's Billions Burn: Poch's Project in Peril
You saw it, right? Beto, the guy they brought in from Udinese, bagging two goals as Everton absolutely thrashed Chelsea 3-0 at Goodison Park. That's not just a win; that's a statement. For the first time all season, an Everton player scores more than once in a single game. Think about that for a second. It's December 10th. It took this long for someone in blue to bag a brace. Beto did it, and he made it look easy against a Chelsea defense that just crumbled.
This isn't just about Beto's big day, though he deserves all the credit. His first goal, a header from a corner in the 48th minute, was all power. The second, a neat finish in the 76th after some chaotic Chelsea defending, sealed the deal. Abdoulaye Doucoure grabbed the opener in the 40th, his fifth league goal of the campaign, which is frankly incredible for a midfielder. Everton, a club that started the season with a points deduction, now sits 10th in the table, just two points behind Newcastle. Sean Dyche has built something real, something gritty. They've won four of their last five Premier League matches, including a 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest on December 2nd and a 1-0 victory against Newcastle on December 7th. They're playing like a team possessed.
**Chelsea's Billion-Dollar Blunder**
Here's the thing: Chelsea looks lost. Mauricio Pochettino has spent what feels like a small nation's GDP on new players since arriving, and for what? To get bounced from the Champions League, which isn't even relevant here, and then to get utterly dismantled by a team that many predicted would be fighting relegation? They now sit 12th in the Premier League, with just 19 points from 16 games. Nineteen points. They've scored only 26 goals all season. Cole Palmer has been a bright spot, sure, with six goals to his name. But he can't do it all. Nicolas Jackson, a £32 million summer signing, has only netted five league goals. Raheem Sterling, who cost £47.5 million last summer, has just five himself. Enzo Fernandez, a £106 million midfielder, offers flashes but can't consistently dictate games. It's a collection of expensive parts that don't fit together.
My hot take? Pochettino isn't the guy to fix this. He's a good coach, no doubt, but this Chelsea squad needs more than good coaching. It needs a personality, a fire, a leader who can cut through the noise and get these players to understand what wearing that badge means. They look soft. They look fragile. They had 16 shots against Everton, but only four were on target. That's not good enough. They had 69% possession and did absolutely nothing with it. It’s possession for possession’s sake.
Chelsea's next two league games are against Sheffield United and Wolves. You'd think those are winnable, but after watching them get run over by Everton, who knows? The pressure on Poch is going to be immense. Owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali have pumped over £1 billion into this squad across three transfer windows. That's not just money; that's an expectation. An expectation that isn't being met.
Bold prediction: Chelsea will finish outside the top half of the Premier League this season, and Pochettino won't see out the calendar year 2024 at Stamford Bridge.