Us Chelsea fans should be used to frustration by now shouldn’t we? Ever since that Champions League win, there has been head-banging at Stamford Bridge than your average heavy metal concert.
Lets be honest, most of us thought the Super Cup and Club World Cup were ours to lose. Favourites in both, we were undone by Falcao first, and then ourselves on Sunday, coming back to the Bridge trophy-less, as well as being the first winners of the Champions League to exit at the group-stage phase, its hardly been a great few months.
Its time to consider what is best to focus on this year now, as we sit 13 points off the pace in the Premier League, and with a hectic Christmas coming up, starting with a Capital One Cup draw with Leeds tomorrow. With Swansea, Aston Villa, and Bradford making up the semi-finals so far, the bookies make us favourites to lift the cup, but its far from a simple task for us, especially if Benitez decides to rest players for the league on Sunday.
We face a revitalized Aston Villa team on Sunday, which is surely a must-win game, as we could well be 16 points behind leaders Manchester United by kick-off.
Surely our focus for now must go on the league, the fact we started so well before trailing off, proves that anything can change in three or four games, and with 21 games left, writing us off now would be a huge mistake.
That said, do we play a secondary squad at Leeds, and at Southampton in the FA Cup? If not, its 6 games in 17 days for our first-team, and we could really do with winning all 6.
With the Europa League to start in the New Year as well, Benitez certainly has his work cut out. Its been a very frustrating few months for us, so surely we’re due a bit of luck and form?
By Brad Smith
Follow @BrummieBrad