‘Mykhailo Mudryk for 70m? He isn’t worth seven quid!’ - Chelsea accused of playing like a ‘reserve team’ after latest Stamford Bridge horror show

Mauricio Pochettino is falling under mounting pressure following a 10th Premier League defeat through 23 top-flight games in 2023-24. Wolves are the latest side to have left west London with a three-point haul, with a 4-2 defeat inflicted on out-of-sorts Chelsea.

Inconsistency has been an issue for some time when it comes to the former Premier League and Champions League title winners, with little return being seen on big investment. Ukrainian winger Mudryk falls into that category, having been acquired in the winter transfer window of 2023, but he is considered to epitomise all that is wrong with the Blues at present.

Former Premier League star Jamie O’Hara has told Sky Sports after casting an eye over Chelsea’s shambolic showing against Wolves: “There are players there on eight-year contracts, I wouldn’t give them a one-year contract. Mudryk brought in for £70m? He ain’t worth seven quid right now – gave the ball away 15 times when he came on. Absolutely shocking. If you are a Chelsea fan, you’d be ashamed watching your side. They have fallen so far away from the standards that they used to be – when it used to be this top side and Chelsea were winning Premier Leagues and reaching Champions League finals. You would go to Stamford Bridge and never get a chance, never have a shot on goal, didn’t concede goals. Now you turn up at Stamford Bridge thinking ‘here we go’, rub our hands together, let’s go, playing Chelsea, a massive club and they are miles off it. They don’t want to be there half of them, they just want to play nice football like a reserve team side, like there’s nothing riding on it. Three points is everything in the Premier League. One of the worst teams, Chelsea, I’ve seen this season. Awful.”

Chelsea’s next three fixtures will see them head out on the road. They are due at Aston Villa on Wednesday for an FA Cup fourth-round replay, before then travelling to Crystal Palace and Manchester City in the Premier League. The Carabao Cup final on February 25 will offer them a chance to collect major silverware and salvage something from a season that is in danger of imploding.