What s going on with Chelsea s disciplinary problems?

Sports Weekly All-Media Original

After 7 games in England this season, Chelsea has 3 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses, with 11 points, ranking 7th in the standings. For a team that aims to compete for the Premier League title and just won the new version of the Club World Cup a few months ago, this is naturally not an ideal start.

Chelsea's two defeats in the league are closely related to red cards. In the 1-2 away defeat against Manchester United, Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez was sent off in just 5 minutes. In the home game against Brighton, Chelsea led 1-0 in the first half. Chalobah turned red in the second half. The Blues' game situation took a turn for the worse, and they were eventually reversed 3-1 by Brighton.

In the highlight match against Liverpool in the seventh round, Chelsea won 2-1. However, coach Maresca received a red card after two yellows turned into one red at the last minute, which allowed the Blues' red card "luck" to continue this season. What is going on with Chelsea's tactical discipline problem?

In this season's Premier League fair play standings, Chelsea "tops" the list with 15 yellow cards and 2 red cards (1 yellow card 1 point, 1 red card 5 points). However, the problem of too many red and yellow cards is not unique to Maresca Renner. This situation has always existed after the Burley Consortium took over the Blues.

In the 2022-23 season, Chelsea ranked sixth in the Premier League in terms of fair play points. However, in the 2023-24 season, the Blues topped the list with 117 points, and also set a new Premier League single-season yellow card record. In Maresca's first season, Chelsea ranked second with 106 points.

Since the 2022-23 season, Chelsea has received 301 yellow cards in Premier League games, the highest number of yellow cards among any Premier League team in the same period. In terms of red cards, Chelsea ranks second in the Premier League with 12 red cards (6 straight reds, 6 yellows and one red), only 1 less than the first-placed Wolves.

Judging from the reason for the card, Chelsea does have some problems in terms of tactical discipline. Since the 2022-23 season, Chelsea has ranked first in the Premier League for yellow cards received due to controversy, contradicting referees and diving, second for yellow cards received for delaying time, and second for yellow cards received for reckless fouls. At the end of the game, Chelsea is particularly prone to receiving cards, which seems to indicate that the Blues have quite a problem in controlling the situation at the end of the game.

During the tenure of Pochettino and Maresca, Chelsea players committed a lot of tactical fouls with the goal of preventing the opponent's scoring opportunities, which also resulted in a large number of yellow cards. Pochettino's tactics are more open, and the opponent will get more space to counterattack. It seems reasonable that tactical fouls remain high. However, this situation has not improved during Maresca's tenure.

Chelsea has a very young lineup, which has advantages in terms of physical fitness and game energy. However, on the other hand, the Blues also made too many mistakes on the field. Since the 2022-23 season, Chelsea has had more opponents' shots due to personal errors in Premier League games than any other Premier League team. The same situation is also reflected in the number of yellow cards. During the game, Chelsea players have a high probability of making mistakes, so they often find themselves in situations where they have to take risks and commit fouls.

The most recent example occurred in the 6th round of the Premier League this season, when Chelsea lost 1-3 at home to Brighton. In the 54th minute, Andre Santos made a pass error, and Chalobah, who was trying to make up for his teammates, had to commit a tactical foul and received a red card. The young Chelsea also paid the price for this, being reversed by their opponents with a 1-0 lead. Regarding the team's tactical discipline issues, Maresca has defended the players, but it is an irrefutable fact that the Blues continue to "lead" in the fair play standings. Chelsea must solve this problem if they want to compete for the Premier League title.