‘Thomas Tuchel is the only reason Chelsea are OK’ - Blues sent relegation warning by former player after ‘disaster’ first season under Todd Boehly

• Onto third manager of the season
• Invested heavily in the transfer market
• Results proving difficult to come by

WHAT HAPPENED? The Blues have invested heavily on big-money signings across the last two transfer windows, splashing out around £600 million ($748m) on fresh faces, but still find themselves in the bottom-half of the Premier League while working with their third manager of the campaign. Champions League winner Tuchel was relieved of his duties in September, while club legend Frank Lampard – who has overseen five successive defeats – is now in place as interim boss following Graham Potter’s sacking after just 31 games at the helm.

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WHAT THEY SAID: Former Blues defender Jason Cundy has told talkSPORT of the mess in west London following a demoralising 2-0 defeat at home to Brentford: “I’m actually numb to it now. I’m numb to what’s going on at Stamford Bridge. There’s so much wrong at Chelsea Football Club from top to bottom. I went there tonight thinking that a draw is the best we could get. Brentford. We’re in disarray. Forget the squad of players, the club is in disarray. There’s no getting away from it. I don’t think we’ll pick up another point this season.

"The best thing that’ll happen at the end of the season is that it ends and we reset and start again, as long as we don’t get relegated. We’ve got 39 points, but I don’t think we’ll get another point. Honestly, I don’t. Let’s say there were 12 games left, we would be in a relegation fight. I’m not saying that lightly. Thomas Tuchel is the only reason we are OK. If he didn’t get 10 points, we would be right in it. It’s hard for me to say it, but as a football club, just end the season. Get it done, get it over and put us out of our misery. It’s been a disaster.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Chelsea are in the hunt for a new permanent boss, with ex-Tottenham coach Mauricio Pochettino seemingly being lined up to take the reins, but Cundy fears a basement battle could be on the cards in 2023-23. He added: “Whoever is in that dugout, it doesn’t matter. As a result club we’ve gone. I go there now thinking that if we get a corner we might be able to get a shot on target. We’re not going to score, we’ve got one goal in seven games and that was a deflected shot from Conor Gallagher. We’ll lose against Arsenal, we’ve got Man City and Newcastle – the only other game where we could pick up points, is Forest when they come to Stamford Bridge. They could come and beat us, it’s terrible! If they don’t get it right, Chelsea will be in a relegation battle next season.”

IN THREE PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT? Chelsea are currently 11th in the Premier League table, having suffered 13 defeats through 32 games, and are only 10 points clear of the relegation zone while being 20 adrift of the top four.