Arsenal icon Paul Merson savagely suggested that he would be capable of playing for Chelsea as their wretched run under Graham Potter goes on.
The Blues have endured a shocking campaign since the sacking of Thomas Tuchel back in September. The German’s replacement, Potter, has won just nine out of his opening 26 games in all competitions at Stamford Bridge.
Their 2-0 defeat to London rivals Spurs made it three successive defeats, whilst Chelsea have scored just one goal in their last six matches. In watching the Blues fall to defeat against Tottenham, Merson tore into the pedestrian speed that Potter’s side approached the game and claimed that he would have been a better option in the centre of the park.
Ask quoted by Sky Sports, the Arsenal legend said: “They never looked like scoring at Spurs. I could have played for Chelsea on Sunday when they had the ball because it was so slow - and I’m 54!
“I can’t run around anymore but I can pass the ball and I could have played in the team. It was slow, sideways, backwards, I can play like that at my age.”
The defeat to Spurs has left Chelsea languishing in tenth position in the Premier League and their hopes of returning to the Champions League now appear to have been dashed. Potter’s men are already 14 points behind fourth-placed Tottenham.
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The attack also continues to suffer. Summer signing Raheem Sterling and Kai Havertz are currently the Blues’ top scorers with just six goals each in all competitions.
Chelsea’s highest-scoring striker remains Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang despite the Gabonese having found the net on just three occasions since his arrival from Barcelona. They attempted to correct that in the January window with another huge splurge - one of the headline arrivals being Ukrainian winger Mykhaylo Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk.
He has endured a stuttering start to life as a Chelsea player though with Merson claiming that Potter did not actually want to sign the former Arsenal target. He continued: “ Mykhaylo Mudryk is an £88m signing sitting on the bench, it tells you he’s not Potter’s player.
“If he was his player and if Potter would have gone to the board and said he needed Mudryk, he would have to play him.”
Chelsea will be aiming to get back on track this weekend as they host struggling Leeds at Stamford Bridge ahead of their Champions League second-leg against Borussia Dortmund in West London.
Should the Blues fail to beat the Yorkshire side this weekend, it would signal their longest run without a victory in all competitions since 1995.
