Just when it looked as though Graham Potter had turned a corner with Chelsea following a month when the club remained unbeaten and qualified for the Champions League quarter-finals, a defeat against Aston Villa firmly piles all the pressure back onto him again.
The back three couldn’t counteract the threat Villa striker Ollie Watkins posed, and he duly scored a delightful lob over Kepa Arrizabalaga in the first half, continuing his recent fine form in front of goal and Potter found his team 1-0 down at the break.
John McGinn added a screamer in the second half and the game finished 2-0, with Chelsea clinging on to tenth position in the league.
There were many terrible performances, with Mykhaylo Mudryk underperforming once again. He received a Sofascore rating of just 5.8/10 which saw him miss a glorious chance in the first half, taking just 21 touches and winning only one duel.
Much more is expected from the January signing, especially with the vast sum spent on him, however he wasn’t the only one to let Potter down last night.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek was another player who majorly disappointed and will have the manager scratching his head.
How did Ruben Loftus-Cheek perform against Aston Villa?
Statistically speaking, he was the second-worst Chelsea player after the aforementioned Mudryk as his performance was only worthy of a 6.2/10 rating via Sofascore.
The Englishman didn’t even last the full game, being substituted on the 57th minute and despite completing 93% (41/44) of his passes and taking 61 touches, there wasn’t much else to be pleased about.
He failed to deliver an accurate cross, had zero shots, won just one duel and lost possession a staggering 14 times in under an hour, proving he was off the pace severely, and it certainly cost Chelsea the chance of securing something from the game.
The £13m-rated man's performance was heavily criticised by Spencer Millman, who said: “He is playing loftus cheek who shouldn’t be anywhere near this team.”
This clearly suggests the player isn’t strong enough to be considered for the starting XI, and it appeared so today, with the 27-year-old being bossed around the park by a Villa side who were evidently up for the challenge more so than the Stamford Bridge outfit.
It looks as though European football next season is slipping away from them, and with the money Potter has spent in January, that extra revenue will be essential.