It is unfortunate for Chelsea to remain without a sponsor of the first shirt for his 25th game of the Premier League season in Brighton on Friday night. There are no betting runners, airline, bank, nothing.
They are the only blank advertising fences among the elite of England and, we like it or not, that ongoing emptiness only adds ammunition to the choir complaining that your team is an advertisement for walking for bad planning.
They have nothing in advance, neither in sponsors and nor on strikes after the double blow of Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu collecting muscle problems in a deadline when Joao Felix was lent to AC Milan without any addition to the attack were made.
It was a strange development that left the club without a single striker, but one that has only increased the frustration of fans on exhibition from Christmas. Before that, they were singing: “We have our Chelsea back.”
During his loss of the FA Cup in Brighton on Saturday, it was the name of Roman Abramovich that emerged from the end of the Amex stadium. Before a trip to Goodison Park in December, Chelsea had won eight in a row in all competitions. Since then, there are only three victories in 10, and they faced Morecambe de la League Dos in the FA Cup and two teams in the last five of the Premier League.
With Jackson and Guiu now to be neglected until at least April, it is in Enzo Maresca as much as anyone to bring order to Chelsea's house rent more than all others.
Chelsea's first choice striker Nicolas Jackson will be ready until at least April
And Marc Guiu, the 19 -year support to Jackson, will also be out in the long term
Out of the FA Cup. Out of the Carabao Cup. Finishing room in the Premier League is the national priority and that makes the return trip on Friday night to Brighton a great game, larger than initially seemed to return when there was a talk for the title.
Chelsea is currently on the streak without the longest victories at home in the Premier League with his last victory arriving on December 8 in Tottenham. It was then that they were averaging 2.9 goals per game along the way, a statistic that has since fallen to 0.5 in the middle of a punctuation drop.
Cole Pale is being attacked more than he was, marked with man and a double foul in 2024-25 than in 2023-24.
He has not scored or helped in his last four games, his longest career since he arrived at Chelsea from Manchester City for £ 42.5 million, but even then, he forced his last two advances for pure will. They were his crosses that led to his own goals from Bart Verbruggen from Brighton and Aaron Wan-Bissaka of West Ham.
Palmer is still creating opportunities in the Premier League, 32 since December 4, more than anyone else in Europe, but his teammates have turned any.
As director, he would be forgiven for occasionally feeling that Andre Previn worked with Morecambe and Wise, and the 22 -year -old English has begun to show his frustrations in the field when his work is wasted.
Now is the time for others to take a step forward in Chelsea, among no less than those who are supposed to contribute from wings. It is not the easiest task for Pedro Neto, Jadon Sancho and Co, with Maresca so reluctant behind the high and broad full back that Ben Chilwell was on the blacklist. He prefers them to invest in the center of the field, and that can leave his extreme with more than one opponent to win on his own.
They are working to improve their production, not only within Cobham but also outside. For example, Noni Madueke has been training with a coach of external skills in an attempt to increase his consistency, repeating drills that involve the left foot that leads from the right side.
Cole Pale has cooled for the first time in Chelsea after a torrid first 18 months
It's time for others to take a step forward and help Palmer, who can't do everything on his own
Chelsea is committed to Enzo Maresca, and have a plan to improve the team this summer
Chelsea could do with the practice to do perfect on Friday night when they will start a weekend in which a victory over Brighton would ensure that they cling to fourth position, ahead of Manchester City versus Newcastle and a Bournemouth team that are directed To Southampton.
It is a proof of the training credentials of Maresca less than a week after it enraged some with their choice of words after their output of the FA Cup in the AMEX.
“If there is something good after a defeat, we can focus on the Premier League and the Conference League,” he told us.
And he did not say it only once but twice in the course of a press conference that forced some to ask if José Mourinho, Antonio Conte or Thomas Tuchel, all the winners, would have pronounced such a cliché.
Blues bosses are committed to supporting Maresca, having given him a five -year contract with the option of a sixth, and that includes a plan to improve the team this summer.
A striker is scheduled to be at the top of the agenda, and such help cannot arrive sufficiently, the injuries to Jackson and Guiu have highlighted a vulnerability that complicates their persecution in the Champions League.
Until then, however, Maresca needs Chelsea's extremes to show its wide value instead of having Zilch above, especially if they want to attract the type of lucrative sponsorship reserved for those in the elite competition of Europe.