These Chelsea players have let the fans down. Winning the FA Cup final is their chance to make it up to them

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Chelsea went into the campaign with high hopes of getting a lot closer to making a title challenge. Qualifying for the Champions League again via a top-five finish was regarded as the bare minimum. Instead, the club have had two head coaches leave and they sit in a lowly eighth spot, 10 points behind fifth-placed Aston Villa with four games remaining. A scenario of Aston Villa coming fifth and winning the Europa League does leave the option for sixth spot to get a Champions League place, but that is a lot of ‘ifs’, ‘buts’, and ‘maybes’. A lot of anger has been aimed at those running the club, including the owners and the sporting directors. The quality of recruitment for all the money spent has been a factor. Hiring Liam Rosenior, sacked on Wednesday after just 107 days in charge, was a big error of judgement. But the players should take their fair share of the blame, too. How could they go from putting such minimal effort in against Brighton & Hove Albion during a 3-0 defeat on Tuesday night, which proved to be Rosenior’s last game, to fighting so hard against Leeds five days later? It has to raise more questions than answers. As The Athletic reported on Rosenior’s departure last week, Chelsea’s players not only lost trust in his methods, but were also divided among themselves over what was going on. Yet at Wembley, they were united as one. You could say it was a case of ‘damned if they do, damned if they don’t’ in terms of showing a response. Better late than never as far as the second half of the season is concerned. Judging by the way fans greeted the players after the final whistle, it is clear that beating a traditional rival is a good place to start to get back in their favour. One of the main protagonists in all the negative drama of late — Enzo Fernandez — even had his name sung. Their task in the final will not be easy. Manchester City await, a team Chelsea have not beaten for five years and who demolished them 3-0 at Stamford Bridge in the league just two weeks ago. And Leeds, 15th in the Premier League, were the highest-ranked team they have faced in the FA Cup so far. But Chelsea’s modern history shows that they have an innate ability to go from complete chaos to trophy celebrations. Just look at previous interim head coaches Guus Hiddink (2009), Roberto Di Matteo (2012), and Rafael Benitez (2013). They managed to bring silverware come May after being brought in following a sacking. For Hiddink, it was the FA Cup. For Di Matteo, it was the FA Cup and the Champions League. In Benitez’s case, it was the Europa League. It is some act for Calum McFarlane to follow. The 38-year-old was hired as the club’s new under-21s coach from Southampton’s academy last summer and then promoted to Rosenior’s backroom staff after impressing in a two-game spell at the helm following Enzo Maresca’s departure in January. McFarlane does not have his pro licence, let alone the wealth of experience that his predecessors named above had. But McFarlane, who led the team to a 1-1 draw at Manchester City in January, showed once again he can get a response from the squad and get key decisions right. His two biggest calls, making Fernandez captain and starting Tosin Adarabioyo at centre-back, both paid off against Leeds. Now, there is obviously another major difference between Chelsea’s past and the current era. Hiddink, Di Matteo, and Benitez all benefited from having players full of character as well as the ability to turn up on showpiece occasions. The current generation do not have the same history of success, even if they may point to the FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Conference League titles claimed last year. But what an opportunity this group has to provide more than just a damage limitation exercise. It has been a source of great despair for Chelsea’s fanbase that they have gone eight years without winning one of the domestic cups. Wembley used to be regarded as their second home, given the frequency with which they would see victories there. However, the last time they played a final at England’s national stadium, the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool in 2024, they became the first club to lose six domestic finals in a row (three league cups, three FA Cups). Given they have to win just one match, even if it is against Manchester City, you can argue it represents their best chance of qualifying for Europe next season. The victors get a spot in the Europa League. Chelsea have lost their last five league games without scoring a goal, which is why they have slid down the table so dramatically and sit only two points above Sunderland in 12th. Still, by beating Leeds, they have at least lifted the gloom and given everyone a target to aim for. It is a message McFarlane has been giving the players since taking over in midweek. “We spoke in the lead-up to the game that we’ve got a minimum of five games left, potentially six if we win against Leeds, and it’s tough in this moment when you’ve been on a losing run,” McFarlane said. “But one moment, one result, one performance can change that, and that’s what we have been going after in terms of shifting the momentum in the group. I did reinforce that at the end (of the game), but it goes without saying that we are Chelsea Football Club, we need to try to win every game, so that is our target from now to the end of the season. “I think that (win) completely changes the feel within the group. I think that was probably more important and gives us confidence going into the next five games. We want to do it for ourselves, we want to do it for the fans and the club, everyone.” Time will tell if they succeed. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms