Chelsea’s disastrous title defence of the Premier League continued on Saturday at Stoke as they slumped to their third successive defeat and seventh in the league this season.
The Blues were without embattled coach, Jose Mourinho, who served a one-game stadium ban following his latest misconduct charge by the English FA.
Mourinho’s recent stadium ban at the Britannia highlights a disappointing and torrid three months for the Portuguese who has seen his title-winning side struggle to retain their Premier League status.
The Blues boss has now lost seven league games in a campaign for the first time as a manager according to Opta Stats.
Chelsea’s failures isn’t entirely Mourinho’s undoing – his title-winning squad has so far let him down.
With the exception of Willian, who undoubtedly is the club’s most outstanding player thus far, and Kurt Zouma who has been a revelation this season, the other players have been a shadow of themselves.
We examine the Blues best performance last season who are having a season to forget this term.
- Eden Hazard
Chelsea’s best player last season and the most outstanding in England, Eden Hazard has so far failed to replicate his 2014/15 exploits. The Belgian is yet to score in all competitions this season with just two assists, 29 chances created and 467 pass completed.
At this point last season, Hazard had scored five times as the Blues ran the show en route to winning the Premier League.
- Cesc Fabregas
Cesc Fabregas was considered the biggest transfer bargain of the 2014 summer following his move from Spanish giants Barcelona to Chelsea. He made an immediate impact on his return to England racking up unbelievable performances each week.
The former Arsenal skipper had made 11 assists by this time last year compared to his sole assist and goal this season.
- Nemanja Matic
A player once compared to Manchester City’s Yaya Toure after rejoining Chelsea from Benfica in January 2014, Nemanja Matic must be pondering right now what the criteria was for such comparison.
Until now, the tall and powerful left-footed central midfielder was capable of protecting the defence while launching attacks with his brand of quick, incisive passing.
Matic alongside Hazard have been the biggest culprits in the club’s poor run of form with critics hand-picking the duo as sacrificial lambs.
- Diego Costa
At this point last season, Diego Costa was busy causing mayhem in the league with his power-playing system. The Spanish striker joined the Blues from Atletico Madrid in 2014 and netted nine goals in his first seven league outings.
In contrast this season, Costa has netted 4 goals in all competitions with only one of those goals coming in the league. He has been booked thrice in the league highlighting a highly frustrating 2015/16 season for the 27-year-old.
- Branislav Ivanovic
One player who came into the 2015/16 season with so much confidence and self-belief was Serbian right back, Branislav Ivanovic. The 31-year-old was selected as deputy skipper to John Terry, but hasn’t shown any leadership this season.
Dip in form and injury has seen the player restricted to just eight appearances this season, a shocking statistics compared to last season where he played every minute in the league.
