In the FA cup final, Chelsea lost 6-5 on penalties to Liverpool with Cesar Azpilicueta and Mason Mount missing their individual penalties.
With this, Chelsea become the first team in history to have lost 3 consecutive FA cup finals. In February, they lost the EFL cup final to the same opponent, that too on penalties.
Meaning Chelsea have lost 4 of the last 5 finals they have appeared in over the last few seasons. The triumph though was a historic win over Manchester City in the Champions League final.
Even Liverpool’s manager Jurgen Klopp has expressed his sympathy for Chelsea who were so close yet so far away from tasting silverware. Now comes the question, why Chelsea are failing to get the job done where it matters the most?
There are many speculations regarding the matter. Many important players of the club have not renewed their contracts resulting in unrest in the club. Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger, and Andreas Christensen are all out of contract at the end of the season. They all are speculated to leave the club at the end of the season with Spain being the potential destination for all of them with Rudiger being already Madrid bound.
Again, Roman Abramovic has to sell the club due to his Russian sanction. The change in hierarchy created a tense atmosphere in the club.
Would the new owners have the same passion and drive, how would they go on financially and so on. Chelsea have a good squad with quality players. It is understandable for them to be unsettled due to such calamity at the top end of the club.
Chelsea were in need of a world-class centre forward like Timo Werner, who, despite being a regular part of the team, was not able to deliver goals.
Romelu Lukaku was brought in for his 2nd stint with Chelsea after scoring 28 goals in Italian Serie A the season before. 135 million pounds spent on bringing a Premier League proven striker failed as Lukaku has been less than average this season scoring 8 goals in 25 appearances for the club.
In both the EFL and FA cup finals, Chelsea were unable to put the ball into the net with big chances. The lack of cutting edge was evident in both the finals.
Though Liverpool mostly dominated the game, Chelsea created openings for themselves. The likes of Christian Pulisic, Mason Mount, Romelu Lukaku, and Hakim Ziyech could not find the back of the net on any occasions.
But Chelsea can take the positives that they are consistently making the finals and with proper recruitment and some luck, Chelsea could very well taste silverware in the coming season.
