If playing on Christmas Eve afternoon wasn’t bad enough, particularly for Chelsea’s travelling fans, then the defeat against Wolves just about topped things off.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side huffed and puffed but didn’t really do an awful lot to write home about.
It’s been a feature of the Argentinian’s tenure since he took over, and has meant his Blues side have already lost eight of their 18 matches since the start of the 2023/24 campaign.
It’s believed that owner, Todd Boehly, despite not seeing an immediate return on his significant investment, will give Pochettino the time to turn things around, however, surely the American couldn’t have countenanced just how bad things would still be down at the Bridge after an awful end to the 2022/23 campaign.
Both Graham Potter and Frank Lampard couldn’t motivate a talented group of players seeing both relieved of their duties by Boehly.
In fairness to Lampard, he was only ever seen as a stop-gap though he would surely have jumped at the chance of taking the role again full-time were it offered.
Both Lampard and Potter along with Pochettino contributed to a record that the club won’t be proud of, and that’s the most losses (19) in the English top-flight in 2023 according to Mirror.
The outlet note that only three clubs in Europe’s top five leagues had a worse record in the calendar year, so anyone of a Chelsea persuasion will absolutely be hoping for a big improvement in 2024.