As bleak as defeat to Ipswich may have been, Chelsea needed it. Had their imaginary title charge continued unchecked for much longer, those inside the club could have genuinely deluded themselves that this was a rebuild completed rather than one very much ongoing. There are still plenty of ways this could go wrong.
Success shaves off rough edges in theory, but does not actually alter a club’s foundations. Winning games has been a much-needed tonic and a deserved indicator of progress under Enzo Maresca, but it hasn’t changed the fact that this is a squad with fundamental flaws of composition.
And plenty of these flaws were present at Portman Road, during what became the first utterly irredeemable and unjustifiable result of the Maresca era.
The loudest and most dangerous was Axel Disasi. A middling if error-prone centre-back at best, he has been used on the right time and again with invariably dire results.
And yet there he was, in a role he should long have been banned from playing, nonchalantly rolling the ball to Liam Delap eight minutes into the second half, to set-up Ipswich’s second.
With three right-backs on the bench – albeit one rested, one recovering and one still yet to start in the Premier League – stationing Disasi somewhere he is clearly uncomfortable and unsuited cannot have been the best option.
Not that Chelsea were much better going forward. Christopher Nkunku, Joao Felix and Noni Madueke were all given auditions to permanently escape the confines of the B team. You can’t imagine any of them got the part, with Felix particularly unimaginative and brittle.
This was an exhibition of Chelsea’s worst traits; youthful naivety and arrogance in spades and their substandard defensive unit repeatedly exposed.
It’s worth saying that despite all this they could still have won, such is their ability in bursts, Cole Palmer’s penchant for magic, the variety of ways they can hurt you.
But they didn’t and shouldn’t have. Maresca is right that games and periods like this are inevitable in any season, with Chelsea now winless in three Premier League matches, but this served as a much-needed reminder that theirs remains a squad of quantity over quality. Having two players in every position is not the same as having two strong options, and the issue with breaking down low blocks is quietly re-emerging.
This has been easy to ignore with the Conference League acting as a creche for the unwanted and unworthy, but this is not a squad prepared for the Champions League or a serious title push.
Without large-scale changes, next season they risk injuries, squad discontent and poor European results bleeding into their domestic form. Maresca is overly dependent on a select few and forced to rely on players he does not trust.
In Nkunku, Chelsea have a back-up striker who requires a tactical overhaul every time he plays. Behind him, Marc Guiu tries hard but is a long way from Premier League standard.
In midfield, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has not made the step up from the Championship, while Cesare Casadei is not developing as hoped. Carney Chukwuemeka is clearly not Maresca’s man, Mykhailo Mudryk faces suspension and Felix is too lightweight and inconsistent, a fun idea but frustrating in reality. Even Madueke seems to spend as much time on the naughty step as off it.
And at the back, Disasi and Benoit Badiashile have repeatedly struggled, while Tosin Adarabioyo is a perfectly serviceable rotation option but not a regular starter. Renato Veiga has not yet found his best position or a real rhythm. Malo Gusto and Reece James are obviously excellent but undeniably injury prone.
The goalkeepers are fine, but neither Robert Sanchez nor Filip Jorgensen could anchor a truly elite side. These are the margins that make a tangible difference, across more than an entire second XI. There is a lot of deadwood here.
Of course reinforcements are coming, but to suggest any of these can be instantly relied on would not be fair on them.
But regardless of the chaos around them, fourth at the halfway mark is where Chelsea would and should have hoped to be. They are almost guaranteed one trophy in the Conference League and could still compete for another in the FA Cup. This was just their fifth Premier League defeat in 33 games.
Champions League qualification remains a comfortably realistic aim. The issue now is assembling a playing corps capable of sustaining midweek trips to Madrid and Munich, rather than Heidenheim and Kazakhstan, preparing for the life they hope to lead.
This reality check should help alleviate pressure and temper expectations for the second half of the season, something Maresca had already been trying his best to do. There is still a long way to go.
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