Chelsea dropping points against Qarabag and the circumstances that has surrounded their continuous inconsistencies against “smaller” sides is a symptom of their ambitious project. We take a look at why Chelsea will be the most inconsistent big team for at least a few years to come.
Chelsea dropped two points away from home in the Champions League against Qarabağ in Azerbaijan. The Blues took the lead through Brazilian starlet Estevao Willian, but two errors from summer signing Jorrel Hato soon pegged Chelsea back.
Alejandro Garnacho scored after the restart to level the score, but Chelsea could not find a way to break Qarabag down to claim all three points.
Fans and analysts have put Chelsea’s disappointing midweek result down to their trend of inconsistencies, especially against “lesser sides” this season.
The Blues have dropped points against Manchester United, Brighton and Hove Albion, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Sunderland, and now Qarabag.
Bayern Munich are the only team that have beaten Chelsea this season as “favourites”. There is a reason why Chelsea look so inconsistent despite their summer Club World Cup triumph and good form/development towards the end of last season.
Too Many Moving Parts
In Chelsea’s main starting 11 last season, Noni Madueke, Jadon Sancho, and Nicolas Jackson have all moved on. Cole Palmer has barely featured this season, and defensive leader Levi Colwill will miss nearly the whole 2025/25 campaign.
This is almost the whole spine of the 2025/25 Chelsea team that was beginning to grow and understand each other on the pitch — and it has affected Chelsea’s attack.
Colwill’s absence has also hurt Chelsea, as The Blues have looked error-prone and lacklustre in defence for much of this season without the Englishman.
Player Development For Transfer Value
Chelsea bought Renato Veiga at the start of the 2024/25 campaign for £12 million and later sold him for £22 million after the Portuguese made just 1 league start and 18 appearances for the club. This type of transfer forms a key part of the Chelsea project.
For these Fringe players to hold their value, Chelsea have to find ways to play and “develop” them for transfer profit, and that can cause inconsistencies due to too much chopping and changing.
Out of all Premier League clubs this season, Chelsea have made 85 changes to their starting XI. That is 16 more than the next club.
Chelsea brought in young talents like Andrey Santos (return from loan), Essugo, Estevao, Hato, Gittens, and more young players in the summer.
These players need game time so they can maintain their transfer value, which is super important to the Chelsea project.
At the end of last season and in the summer, Chelsea showed the world what their project could look like when it fully matures. Blueco’s ambitious project could see Chelsea become the best team in the world, full of youngsters.
However, if the chopping and changing keep happening in key positions on the pitch, Chelsea will add extra developmental years to their path to success.
