This is Chelsea’s level at the moment, says man responsible for Chelsea’s level

In retrospect, the optimism was obviously misplaced and misguided. Teams don’t change overnight or over-fort-night (or so we’re told these days), even if you add in a record signing — who, mind you, was probably our best player outside of the two center backs.

It is however frustrating to see little to no difference after a two-week break, with that time spent on the training ground, despite one key player also coming back from injury, and armed with all the good vibes and emotional intelligences that the club’s spending spree has engendered. And for all the talk about gelling and such, the biggest issue in this game was far too familiar: lack of execution in the final third.

But hey, that’s just our lot in life, right G-3PO?

“We didn’t do enough in terms of our attacking play to create more which is something we need to do [...] that bit of connection, that bit of fluidity, that bit of understanding that you need we probably lacked a little bit which is understandable when you consider we’ve got players coming back from injury and new players in the team. That’s just where we’re at at the moment.”

-Graham Potter; source: Football.London

Fulham came into this game on the back of back-to-back 1-0 defeats to Newcastle and Tottenham. That’s where their levels are. Our level is here. Our level is the give some credit to the opposition level, and hey, don’t forget to tip the band.

“You have to credit Fulham, they are a defensively well organised unit. We did quite well at times and at times you could see the lack of connection with a team that has a few guys coming back from injury or being integrated into the team. In football teams you sometimes need that connection and understanding to sharpen up the decisions. We just need to gel and improve the team.”

-Graham Potter; source: Sky via BBC

So sometimes you need it and sometimes you win? We certainly do need to improve, at every level, and that much we can all agree on.

Put another coin in that trust the process machine, Todd.