Welcome to Chelsea - the most confusing club in English football
FROM STAMFORD BRIDGE — Chelsea are brilliant, terrible, fantastic and self-destructive in equal measure.
For a club that has won multiple Champions Leagues and Premier Leagues — in the recent past, as well — this is perhaps their most impressive feat. How a consistent contender has stooped to this level in a couple of years is incredible.
Doubts about the club's vision under BlueCo and Todd Boehly's ownership won't disappear until they return to that former standard. Judging by the Blues' body of work since their takeover, this might not be for a while.
Why Chelsea went in this direction remains unclear, and the confusion about their project has spilled over onto the pitch.
The Blues reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup with a thrilling 4-2 victory at home to Leicester City on Sunday afternoon, but it was not a straightforward task for Mauricio Pochettino's side despite their dominance.
Chelsea raced into the lead through Marc Cucurella, who rounded off a swift attack which saw Nicolas Jackson frighten the pants off of Leicester's retreating defenders before crossing for the Spaniard to tap in at the far post.
When Raheem Sterling was hauled down by Abdul Fatawu inside the 18-yard box, it looked for all the world that Chelsea would stroll to victory. But Sterling — for some reason instead of the usual Cole Palmer — rolled the penalty down the middle and goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk denied him.
That brought the agitation out at Stamford Bridge, that tetchy feeling that has existed and grown in this part of west London in recent times. Sterling set up Palmer for Chelsea's second before the break but they were now in an irksome mood. It didn't help that goalkeeper Robert Sanchez — given a rare chance to impress to win back his
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