Followers of Chelsea will likely be sick of the mention of the project and the process the club are currently undertaking. Points and prizes are what the Blues would hope to be more concerned with and both are providing difficult with the season past its halfway mark.
In many regards making the Carabao Cup final was supposed to be a formality against Middlesbrough, as much as football can ever offer one. However, Hayden Hackney's goal at the Riverside ensured Chelsea head into the second leg with a deficit. With the Blues' abilities in front of goal never a guarantee, progression is more difficult than it once was.
That the result was an upset without providing too much in the way of surprise is perhaps the most damning indictment. Chelsea showed difficulties that Mauricio Pochettino hoped his side would not repeat as they swapped domestic cup competitions. To an extent they avoided those issues but instead fell on the familiar problem of being clinical in front of goal.
There was discontent in the stands and that has extended to the wider fanbase. There's an acknowledgment that at the moment there appears to be more problems than solutions.
The club might point to strong underlying numbers in many of their performances where they have dropped points. Hearing that excuse time and again will not wash however. Pochettino acknowledged as much on Tuesday — 'if you don't score goals you cannot win'.
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