When the trains let you down Chelsea fans might have turned to London buses. When they let you down, two come at once. That's how it's felt at Stamford Bridge for a while, too.
Form has been erratic since March and even before then it took a winter hit. So much of watching the Blues in 2022 has been the odd peak with plateaus and troughs in between. There hasn't been much consistency and it's paved the way for a struggle on the pitch.
Thomas Tuchel couldn't get his players to earn back-to-back wins after the initial news of Roman Abramovich putting the club up for sale in March. After that, the German boss didn't win consecutive league matches in charge.
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For a man that masterminded one of the most remarkable Champions League victories ever, to lose all semblance of consistency was a big worry and it carried over to this season too. Chelsea did win their last game of last season and the first of this campaign, but that hardly counts.
On the back of that, Chelsea didn't come from behind to win a game for nearly six months either. Their victory against West Ham was the first time it had been done since beating Luton in March - that tricky period proving decisive once more - and the last time it happened in the league was December. Out of the 100 Tuchel matches, Chelsea went behind 28 times and won just six, ending up on the losing side in 16 of those, not an impressive record.
To make it worse, Chelsea hadn't won back-to-back matches after going behind since 2016 when Antonio Conte managed to send his side to the title. That has since been changed with Tuchel and Graham Potter combining forces to overcome West Ham and Crystal Palace.
Of course the aim is to not go behind in the first place but Chelsea have been fragile for a while and have struggled to react once going behind for a long time. It was a complaint of Conte's in 2017 and each manager since has also pointed out similar brittleness.
Given the battles ahead for Potter, seeing his team react against Palace will have been pleasing. Despite games being played nearly one month after each other, Chelsea do also have back-to-back league wins for the first time this season, too. It's not to say that they are building up ahead of steam, but in an already turbulent season it's the small things that count.
Potter may need this attitude as Chelsea face AC Milan. The Italian champions have become seasoned winners after an impressive campaign saw them elevated to Serie A winners and have a blend of youth and experience that Chelsea themselves are after. With home and away ties against them it may well define Chelsea's European season and being able to react and come from behind is a characteristic that elite clubs need to ride out tough patches.
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