Chelsea Fan View: Sussex by the sea beckons

The last couple of weeks have been a difficult time for Chelsea and their supporters. Not only have they had to endure five draws in a row, three of them goalless but they suffered the ignominy of being taken to extra time and then penalties by Championship side Norwich in the FA Cup replay on Wednesday night.

Thankfully the only real hardship was the late journey home on a ‘school night’ as Chelsea found it easier to put away penalties than scoring from open play.

On reflection, it seems ironic if not unsurprising that Chelsea’s two misfiring strikers – Alvaro Morata and Michy Batshuayi – were no longer on the pitch when the penalty shoot-out took place. Given their current form there is no guarantee they would have put the ball in the onion bag and helped secure Chelsea’s passage to the next round.

What better way to get over the trials and tribulations of Chelsea’s recent poor performances than a trip to the seaside, Brighton to be precise, this weekend.

Brighton, a traditional ‘get-away’ destination for Londoners over the years, will host Chelsea in a league match for the first time since 1989. For many Chelsea supporters it will be the first visit to Brighton’s AMEX stadium and as such is one of the most eagerly anticipated away matches this season.

There is perhaps another reason why this is top of the list for away trips this season. For Chelsea supporters of a certain age it evokes memories of 1983 and what was to become a favourite campaign. In May, Chelsea had narrowly avoided relegation to Division Three courtesy of a Clive Walker goal in a 1-0 win against Bolton. In the season opener Chelsea thumped promotion favourites Derby County 5-0 at Stamford Bridge, with Kerry Dixon scoring two goals on his debut.

A week later, 15,000 Chelsea supporters crammed in to the Goldstone Ground to watch their side beat recently-relegated Brighton, who had come close to beating Man Utd in the FA Cup final. In a great team performance Kerry Dixon scored both goals in the 2-1 win and a legend was born.

All of this was washed down with warm late summer sunshine and a mass pitch invasion at full-time. As a day out it was a riot, quite literally, but more than that belief in the team was restored and a return to Division one beckoned.

Chelsea’s 2-0 win against Brighton on Boxing Day three weeks ago was the first time the two sides had played each other since the 1980s and ultimately it was a comfortable win for the Champions. Whether Saturday’s match will be equally as comfortable for Chelsea is anyone’s guess.

Poor form notwithstanding, Antonio Conte has something of a selection dilemma. Alvaro Morata is unavailable having received a second yellow card and his marching orders for dissent in the final minutes of the match against Norwich. Debate raged about whether the yellow card for diving that precipitated this was warranted, but Conte was clearly not happy with his main striker’s lack of discipline.

Antonio Conte may perhaps be less happy that he will most likely have to play Michy Batshuayi who is still woefully short of confidence and form, in spite of his goal on 55 minutes against the Canaries. Batshuayi’s goal was the only bright spot on an otherwise all too familiar performance rife with a lack of control, misplaced passes and poorly timed runs.

But, score he did and given that Conte’s other option of playing Eden Hazard as a ‘false number 9’ is hampered by Pedro being unavailable thanks to the red card he received, then Chelsea’s manager will need to earn his corn, focus on the positive and attempt to rebuild Batshuayi’s confidence and get a performance out of him on Saturday.

It is easy to feel some sympathy for the young Belgian striker. Frozen out for much of the season by a manager who clearly has little faith in him, he is now expected to step in to the breech and bail his manager out.

Add to this the rumours that he is about to be jettisoned for Andy Carroll and equally incredulously Peter Crouch, one can only imagine what must be going through Batshuayi’s head at the moment. My suspicion is that it is probably a recurring nightmare.

One thing is for sure, whether it is Batshuayi or any one of the other nine outfield players who start against Brighton on Saturday, Chelsea need to rediscover their scoring and winning touch.

Anything less than a win might just see the recurrence of a nightmare all too familiar with Chelsea supporters over the last ten years, namely the shuffling of paper in the Board room as discussions about the future of the manager gather pace.

Much as it was in 1983 Chelsea need to restore some belief at the moment and you would be hard pressed to find more convenient opponents than Brighton to rebuild it. Of course, if Chelsea gets their act together there is no reason why they shouldn’t return with all three points on Saturday. After all it would be somewhat inconvenient to ruin what promises to be a great day out for the Chelsea supporters.

David Chidgey @StamfordChidge

David Chidgey presents the award winning Chelsea FanCast podcast which can be heard live every Monday at 19.00 at mixlr.com/chelsea-fancast/ or downloaded from Acast, ITunes, Soundcloud or chelseafancast.com @ChelseaFanCast