The Citizens return to the top of the Premier League table with a 6-0 win over the Blues inflicting the visitors their worst defeat in 28 years.

Well that….. was dreadful, what an atrocious and embarrassing performance by Chelsea as they find themselves 6th in the Premier League table, a point drift from the top four and their pride completely stripped from them by Pep Guardiola’s side.

This is a spineless team, a squad with no real leaders in the dressing room. The team crumbled yet again after falling behind early and found themselves 4-0 down after only 25 minutes.

It all started after four minutes when Marcos Alonso switched off at a free kick and the ball found its way to Raheem Sterling, who smashed it home to give the hosts the early lead.

Chelsea were let off soon after as Sergio Aguero missed an open goal before redeeming himself in style in the 13th minute, scoring from 25 yards to put City well and truly in control.

Gundogan deepened the misery for Maurizio Sarri’s men, driving home a fourth after 25 minutes to well and truly put the game to bed.

Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta made things worse in the second half for the visitors as he tripped Sterling inside the penalty area. Sergio Aguero coolly slotted home from the penalty spot on the 56th minute, to take home the match ball.

Raheem Sterling completed the scoring in the 80th minute, finishing off a nice passing move inside the penalty area as Manchester City netted their 120th goal of the season across all competitions – the most across Europe’s top leagues.

The result leaves Chelsea in real danger of missing out on UEFA Champions League football for a second successive season and has put Maurizio Sarri’s job in serious doubt.

Personally, I think Sarri deserves some of the blame today, having chosen to select the likes of Ross Barkley and Marcos Alonso yet again despite their struggles this season. Whilst I appreciate Sarri’s persistence to try and get the best out of the players at his disposal, clearly the players chosen were not good enough and have struggled all season. Would it have killed him to have started Ruben Loftus Cheek instead of Barkley or Emerson ahead of Alonso?

I totally believe Maurizio Sarri needs time at the club, its absurd that there are calls for him to be relieved as manager after only six months. The football culture at Chelsea from the higher ups is to hire and fire managers when results aren’t coming our way, yet it is the same players who have shown a lack of fight, intensity and commitment under a third manager now. Mourinho achieved success, and then was sacked the following season, Conte soon followed in the same viscous cycle at SW6, and sadly, Sarri looks likely to join them without completing his first season.

Sarri has upcoming games with Malmo (twice in the Europa League), Manchester United, Brighton, a League Cup final against Manchester City and Tottenham to round out February. It is pivotal that Sarri looks at the younger and hungrier players on the bench for inspiration. Surely players such as Callum Hudson Odoi, Ruben Loftus Cheek and Andreas Christensen deserve a run out? The likelihood is that they will get their opportunities in both Europa League games against Malmo, and I believe that they should be entrusted with the upcoming league games also.

I would also dock the players who performed in last night’s horror show, two weeks of pay to send a message to the team, a performance of that magnitude is absolutely unacceptable. Maybe a hit in the bank account would give these players a kick up the backside they need. After all, it seems they just don’t care about this football club judging by recent away defeats to Arsenal, Bournemouth and now Manchester City.

It’s either that, or they just aren’t good enough.

The Stats: Courtesy of OneFootball

This results marks the first time a Sarri side has conceded more than four goals in a match and marked his heaviest ever league defeat as a head coach.

For the first time since December 1990, Chelsea have shipped a minimum of four goals in consecutive away league games.

Chelsea conceded six goals in a Premier League match for the first time in their history and this result marks the heaviest defeat in all competitions since April 1991.

The Londoners are now winless in six of their last seven away league games against ‘Big Six’ opposition, losing the last five in a row.

Only Relegation strugglers Fulham has conceded more goals in 2019 (15) than Chelsea’s 13.

Chelsea FC bounce back from midweek defeat to hand basement boys a 5-0 thrashing at Stamford Bridge.

Gonzalo Higuain got off the mark for Chelsea as the Blues bounced back from the midweek humiliation to Bournemouth, dishing out a 5-0 thumping of Huddersfield Town at Stamford Bridge last night.

Two goals from Higuain and Hazard and a header from David Luiz condemned the Terriers to their 18th league defeat of the season, leaving Jan Siewert’s men 13 points adrift from safety with 13 games to play.

It was a brilliant response for Maurizio Sarri’s men against the bottom team of the league, as the Blues scored three or more goals for the first time since November 4, a stat that underlined the Londoners struggles in front of goal this season.

Higuain opened the scoring in the 16th minute following a lovely sliding pass from N’golo Kante and the Argentine buried his chance past Huddersfield goalkeeper Jonas Lössl. Higuain and Hazard had some nice link up play throughout the match with Sky Sports recording 21 pass combinations between the two attackers, meanwhile, the midfield trio of Jorginho, Kante and Barkley controlled the centre of the park. Left back, once again, looked to be an issue as Marcos Alonso was repeatedly caught out at the back and Adama Diakhaby caused some problems on that right hand flank. This issue needs to be recitified as against quality opposition, we will get punished. Sarri, to his credit, recognised this problem, and he switched Willian and Hazard to opposing flanks so the Brazilian could give Alonso some defensive support in the first half.

Cesar Azpilicueta was adjudged to be brought down in the penalty area by Elias Kachunga on the stroke of half-time, and Chelsea talisman Eden Hazard converted the spot kick to double the home side’s lead.

Chelsea continued their dominance after the break, Willian coming close to making it three for the Blues and Huddersfield were unfortunate not to receive their own penalty when Andreas Christensen accidentally and clumsily tripped Kachunga.

Hazard put the result beyond any doubt in the 66th minute, finishing from a tight angle after a nice pass from Ross Barkley, and Higuain added the Blue’s fourth three minutes later when Kante laid the ball to the Argentine, whose strike from outside the box took a slight deflection. David Luiz completed the scoring scoring four minutes before the end of regular time with a free header flicking off a Terriers defender on the way in.

Overall, it was a good performance as a morale boosting victory for the boys is exactly what we needed. Yes, it was against the worst side in the league (with all due respect to Huddersfield), however, we move back into the top four, three points ahead of Arsenal before they face Manchester City at the Ethiad and two goals from our new striker Gonzalo Higuain will certainly fill him with confidence ahead of tougher meetings this month. Most importantly, it takes a bit of pressure off Maurizio Sarri following recent defeats to Arsenal and Bournemouth.

Chelsea and Sarri know there will be tougher tasks to come, with games against Manchester City (February 11), Manchester United (February 19), Manchester City again in the Carabao Cup Final (February 25) and Tottenham Hotspur (February 28). With a cup final and games coming thick and fast in the race for UEFA Champions League qualification, it is the perfect opportunity for the players to prove a point to Sarri and to the fans after being questioned over their mentality.

Maurizio Sarri only arrived in July, and discussion of an early exit for the Italian should be premature.

We are in the beginning of February, 5th on the table with 47 points (before our home meeting with Huddersfield), only outside of the top four on goal difference and in a Carabao Cup final at the end of the month, yet I have seen #SarriOut hashtags and calls for the Italian’s head all over social media by some Chelsea fans.

Whilst I understand Chelsea fans may be pulling their hair out following losses against both London and top four rivals Arsenal and Tottenham, along with the midweek’s unacceptable 4-0 hammering to Bournemouth. I still don’t quite understand why we should even consider parting ways with Maurizio Sarri.

Yes, losing is frustrating, and seeing our team drop points against the likes of Southampton, Leicester and Everton at home is as infuriating as seeing Callum Hudson Odoi not getting a league start. Yes, it is frustrating to see players like Willian and Marcos Alonso starting week in and week out when they have struggled to perform in the Starting XI consistently this season. Yes, Sarri deserves to shoulder some of the blame, whether that is because of his predictable tactics or stubbornness to change personnel at times, but what were we expecting? A title challenge?

No, Chelsea were never expected to challenge the likes of Manchester City or Liverpool for the Premier League title this season, both clubs which gave their managers at least one season to implement their ideas and bring in the personnel of their choice. Did we suddenly forget the 12 game unbeaten run from August to November or the impressive 2-0 victory over Manchester City? Did we forget that we will be contesting in a cup final later this month? Not all things are that bad.

He is bold and brave in his attempt to revolutionise Chelsea’s entire playing style to the core, with a new 4-3-3 system based on possession, movement off the ball and a flurry of quick, short passes to the ground. Isn’t this what Chelsea fans have been craving for years? Beautiful, free flowing attacking football? If your answer is yes, then you must be patient and give this man time to put into place his philosophy. Rome wasn’t built in a day, heck even Pep Guardiola, who if we remember, was under fire after a trophiless first season at the Ethiad, was given time and City are bearing the fruits of his labour.

Chelsea need to not only give Sarri time to implement his tactics and way of thinking, but to also eliminate the cultural stigma that the club doesn’t give managers time. Chelsea have had 10 managers in the 15 years Roman Abramovich has been in ownership of the club, not even the second coming of Jose Mourinho was enough for the club to sustain some stability.

Trophy-winning managers like the aftermentioned Mourinho, Antonio Conte, Roberto Di Matteo, Carlo Ancelotti and Rafa Benitez were all not given time to build on the success that they achieved at Stamford Bridge, and this habit is becoming poisonous towards the players attitudes. Over the years, as soon as the team struggles with results, its the manager and not the players who are under fire. I believe this is having a negative effect on the club, as a handful of players in the locker room are starting to feel too comfortable with the ever-changing cycle of managers.

Case in point, Mourinho, following his title winning season in 2014/15 and Conte, following another title win in 2017/18. The team has become too complacent following the success and as soon as the manager criticises the performances, the players down-tools and its the manager’s head that ends up on the chopping block.

Sarri deserves time, he had every right to call out the player’s mentality, following the 2-0 away defeat at Arsenal two weeks ago, and was absolutely entitled to question the players mentality again, in the aftermath of the midweek defeat. The change of the club’s footballing DNA will take some time and we were all aware of this heading into the season.

Chelsea knew what they were getting with Sarri, a merticulous manager who, whilst has yet to win a major trophy honour in his career, produced exciting and exhilarating football with Napoli, coming within a whisker of dethroning Juventus’ hegemony at the top, and led the Partenopei to their highest point tally with 91 points. He is the man who is looking to eliminate the ‘boring defensive minded team’ perception that the footballing world sees us and he is the man who is looking to bring the ‘fun football’ that Mr Abramovich craved since the day he bought the club back in 2003.

G’day to all Chelsea and football fans alike, My name is Lucas and welcome to my football blog, The Oz Blue fan. I will be discussing predominately Chelsea FC news but will also cover English Premier League, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League action as well as other major cup competitions. I am a Journalist graduate with a major passion in football and I look forward to providing news, opinions, previews and reviews on the world game. – Lucas da Paz