Their reign has another six weeks to run. Chelsea can still brand themselves world champions until 11 February, but it is probably best if they do not. It would highlight the gulf between past and present, between supposed status and sad reality when, below Fulham on goal difference, the table suggests they are not even the top team in west London. If 2022 started with a crowning glory that came before the dramatic crumbling of Roman Abramovich’s empire, 2023 began with further evidence that Todd Boehly’s is a reign of error.
It was not so much the fact Chelsea drew with Nottingham Forest as the manner of it and the context. “It was below par for us,” said Graham Potter, but par for Thomas Tuchel’s team used to be startlingly high and now it feels altogether lower. “It’s a performance we are not happy with,” Potter added. Since beating AC Milan in San Siro, there are none that should really satisfy him.
