Like the old lady who swallowed a spider to catch a fly, Chelsea's situation has not improved. The Eva Carneiro furore succeeded in distracting from a disappointing home draw with Swansea, so perhaps Sunday's 3-0 defeat at Manchester City will mean the questions about Chelsea's medical department will begin to subside too. But the problems are only increasing. Indeed, the decision to substitute John Terry for Kurt Zouma might well ensure that even that story moves on quickly. After all, it's the first time that Chelsea's captain has ever been withdrawn from a Premier League game by Jose Mourinho. "It was just a decision," the manager told Sky Sports. "I know that Zouma is the fastest defender in the squad."
A big call nonetheless. What's not up for debate is that Terry looked particularly uncomfortable from the outset. Within the first minute, he was caught out for pace and position when the sluggish Cesc Fabregas gave David Silva far too much time to pick out a pass and the speedy Sergio Aguero nipped in between Terry and Gary Cahill. The defensive line was poor. Aguero surprisingly squandered that opening and was denied on a further two occasions by Asmir Begovic soon after. He should have finished off Aleksandar Kolarov's whipped cross from close range as well - and all within the first half an hour. It was not the Chelsea with which we have become familiar. So much so that when the goal finally came, it felt inevitable. "He's had five chances. Fifth time lucky," said Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville on co-commentary. "If you'd said that a Jose Mourinho team would concede five big chances to Sergio Aguero in a big game, you'd have said no chance." And yet, here we were."I've never seen them so disorganised," added Neville. The memory was not failing him. Chelsea conceded no fewer than 17 chances against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. That's more than in any Premier League game - home or away - in their 2014/15 title-winning campaign.
But it wasn't just the number of occasions City peppered the Chelsea goal that was alarming, it was the nature of the opportunities that the visitors were permitting. According to Opta, Chelsea conceded three clear chances from which City - or indeed any opponent - might have been expected to score.That happened only once last season and coming on the back of Bafetimbi Gomis's clear openings for Swansea last weekend means that Chelsea have now conceded more clear chances than any team in the Premier League so far this season. City have conceded none.
This is the underlying data indicating that while Mourinho chose to describe the 3-0 scoreline as "fake", the truth is that we are still waiting to see the real Chelsea so far. And the warning signs have been there since pre-season.
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