Paul Merson surprised that Chelsea forward Raheem Sterling didn't make Gareth Southgate's English squad. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)
Former Arsenal and Aston Villa midfielder Paul Merson believes that Chelsea’s five big signings this summer have not paid off. The Blues spent just under £250 million during the summer to bring in seven players in the team.
Wesley Fofana, Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Marc Cucurella were the marquee arrivals for the west London club. However, none of them have lived up to the expectations.
After 14 league games so far, the Blues sit eight on the table with 21 points, eight behind fourth place Tottenham Hotspur and 16 behind leaders Arsenal.
Koulibaly was left out of the last three games, before featuring during the 1-0 loss against Newcastle United last week. Trevoh Chalobah is the preferred option by Graham Potter and while speaking on Soccer Saturday (h/t Daily Star), Merson gave his criticism about this.
“You know you’ve got to play to people’s strengths but Koulibaly doesn’t play because he goes with Chalobah. You know I like Chalobah, I think he’s done very well.”
Cucurella also has struggled since arriving from Brighton & Hove Albion this summer. While he has featured in 18 games in all competitions so far, the 24-year-old has struggled to make an impact on the pitch. Fofana, on the other hand, has been injured and is currently sidelined.
“Cucurella is a prime example of: it’s different clubs. You play at Brighton, you get beat at Brighton you probably get a little line in the paper that Brighton get beat 1-0. At Chelsea, he’s getting absolutely slaughtered you know, people saying he’s not good enough, picking him out when goals go in and all that. That didn’t happen at Brighton.”
As for Aubameyang and Sterling, both the forwards have not had the desired output upfront. The Gabon international has only scored three goals so far in all competitions, while the Englishman has scored five in all competitions.
Potter too has struggled in the past few weeks. The club got off to a very good start under him, but the Blues have now lost four of their past five games in all competitions, including three straight defeats in the Premier League.
“Chelsea are not a team where you want to come fourth one year and third the next year, it’s win or nothing. So, for me, you look at Graham Potter, you go ‘right we want Graham Potter’, if it means coming fifth or sixth this year and we win the league next year.”
While the team has struggled on the pitch this past few weeks, fans will be happy that the World Cup break has started. Maybe Potter will be able to work his magic after the season resumes next month and end his first season in charge with silverware.
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