Chelsea 0-1 Nottingham Forest, Player Ratings: No sparkle

1. ENZO FERNÁNDEZ (5.7)

The overreaction to this game, and the absolute doomerism that we’ve seen over the past 24 hours has been a bit much, but we certainly lacked the sparkle that we had seen in the previous league games.

Even in the defeat against West Ham, which turned from good to bad in a hurry, we played with a certain verve, a certain panache, a certain youthful enthusiasm that was sorely lacking in this one. Not sure why that was the case, but we seemed to lack belief and energy, which made it a bit of a slog. And we couldn’t grind out the victory, perhaps unsurprisingly given the age and profile of this young team. Familiar issues reared their ugly heads, and there’s certainly work to do to get better.

Players who had led the way in the early games couldn’t quite get it done here, though Enzo still tops the pile, presumably with some of his incisive passing late on as we pressed for an equalizer.

2. MALO GUSTO (5.2)

Not quite up to the level of his previous performances either, but the 20-year-old has settled in right quick and has made Reece James’s injury less impactful than it would’ve been (and has in fact been) in the last couple seasons.

Gusto is far from a finished product, but has excellent two-way game and can make an impact at either end. On a day when the attacking precision was a bit disappointing, he still made several excellent one-on-one tackles and recoveries.

3. COLE PALMER (5.2)

A few promising touches and movements from our newest future star signing. As with many in the team, we now need to build understanding and cohesion and develop some key partnerships across the pitch.

vs. NOTTINGHAM FOREST (PL, H, L 0-1)

EXCEPTIONAL (9.0+): —

EXCELLENT (8.0-8.9): —

GOOD (7.0-7.9): —

AVERAGE (6.0-6.9): —

POOR (5.0-5.9): Enzo (5.7), Gusto (5.2), Palmer (5.2, sub), Colwill (5.1), Silva (5.0)

BAD (4.0-4.9): Disasi (4.9), Gallagher (4.8), Sterling (4.8), Madueke (4.8, sub), Maatsen (4.7, sub), Sánchez (4.4), Chilwell (4.4), Caicedo (4.0), Jackson (4.0)

TERRIBLE (3.0-3.9): Mudryk (3.8, sub)

OVERALL