TODD BOEHLY will be writing to Uefa this morning demanding a reason why Chelsea weren’t gifted their obligatory New Manager Bounce™ last night.
Tradition dictates that a switch of head coaches results in a immediate uplift in form and so the Stamford Bridge faithful have every right to feel shortchanged by a 1-1 draw against Red Bull Salzburg to mark Graham Potter’s first game in charge of the Blues.
Having lost to Dinamo Zagreb last week, Chelsea would have been desperate for a win on home soil to kickstart their Champions League campaign.
For a while it looked as if the hosts would take all three points as Raheem Sterling (£4.7m) opened the scoring three minutes into the second half with a precise finish.
However, the Austrian side grabbed an equaliser against the run of play in the 75th minute through Noah Okafor and were able to hold on for a point in west London.
Chelsea had 72% possession and registered 17 shots to Salzburg’s four but it ultimately proved to be another frustrating night.
The Blues find themselves bottom of Group E after two European fixtures and they’re yet to play AC Milan, the reigning Serie A champions.
Combine this with disappointing domestic defeats to Leeds and Southampton and it’s fair to say Chelsea’s form is wobbly at best, hence the change in dugout personnel.
This has largely been reflected in the world of Dream Team but there are two notable exceptions.
Thiago Silva (£5.4m) and the aforementioned Sterling are thriving despite their side’s stumbling results.
The Brazilian veteran narrowly swooped the Star Man award on Wednesday night to bank eight points and take his overall tally to 36.
At the time of writing, only two defenders, Kieran Trippier (£3.9m) and Joao Cancelo (£7.2m), have more points at this stage.
Silva has managed to achieve this feat without regular clean sheets by claiming three Star Man awards, the joint most in 2022/23.
The 37-year-old centre-back currently appears in 3.8% of teams – his ownership will surely rise in the coming weeks, particularly if Potter whips the defence as a whole into shape.
Similarly, Sterling is the third-best asset in his position having amassed 35 points.
He too pocketed eight points against Salzburg by virtue of his fourth goal of the campaign. coming in his eighth outing.
The England international has also provided an assist and is averaging a goal involvement every 135.2 minutes for his new club.
Pascal Gross (£3m) and Kevin De Bruyne (£7.5m) are the only two midfielders with more points than Sterling at the time of writing.
Given the evidence at hand, it seems if Dream Team gaffers would be wise to discard all Chelsea assets except for Silva and Sterling.
However, it feels as if Reece James (£5.5m) isn’t far off a couple of healthy hauls – his underlining attacking stats are strong.
An important thing to note, Chelsea’s fixture against Liverpool in Game Week 7 has been postponed so Dream Team managers certainly shouldn’t transfer any Stamford Bridge residents into their XI until at least the international break.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
