Chelsea are on their worst run of form in 114 years and, four months into a 5½-year contract, Liam Rosenior was dismissed as manager on Wednesday.
At the start, it had looked a match made in heaven -- in his first 15 matches, Rosenior's team lost just three times (all three coming at the hands of a then-high-flying Arsenal), as he won 10 and Chelsea played some free-flowing, goalscoring football.
Over the past couple of months, though, it's been a horror show: five Premier League games, five losses and no goals scored. Remarkably, the run -- extended by a 3-0 Champions League loss to Paris Saint-Germain -- was interrupted when Chelsea beat Port Vale 7-0 in the FA Cup fifth round.
The last time Chelsea went five league games without scoring was in 1912.
- The numbers behind Chelsea's winless run after Rosenior turns on players
March 14: Chelsea 0-1 Newcastle United
A game Chelsea lost to the kind of goal that makes FIFA players (EAFC, if you will) rage quit. A straight ball down the middle from Tino Livramento sent Joe Willock through on goal, one-on-one with Robert Sánchez, and the Newcastle man squared it to Anthony Gordon for a tap-in.
Around the goal, though, it had mostly been all Chelsea. They had 22 shots (even if only three were on target), dominated possession (67%) and were generally competent apart from that one defensive lapse.
Few could have predicted what was to happen to their finishing in the coming weeks.
March 17: Chelsea 0-3 PSG
Already trailing 5-2, Chelsea put up another half-decent performance (18 shots to eight, 1.26 xG to 1.09) only to see the sheer ruthlessness of the PSG frontline overwhelm them in the second leg of their round-of-16 tie. Any faint hopes of Chelsea recreating their stunning Club World Cup heroics were summarily dismissed early on when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored in the sixth minute and Bradley Barcola added another in the 14th and it was a steady slide the longer the game went on.
Individual errors from the Chelsea defence didn't help and Stamford Bridge started to empty with half an hour to go when Senny Mayulu made it 8-2 on aggregate.
That's how the score remained, as Chelsea slumped to their joint-heaviest Champions League loss on aggregate ever.
March 21: Everton 0-3 Chelsea
If there were aspects of Chelsea's performance in the Newcastle and PSG games that could have seen those results attributed to temporary blips, there was absolutely nothing to salvage from their visit to the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Chelsea dominated possession (64%) only to do next to nothing with it. The goals they conceded were once again quite simple: a James Garner pass through the middle that Beto finished with a chip over the advancing Sanchez, Idrissa Gueye intercepting the ball, running forward and teeing up Beto to slam one through Sanchez's legs, Iliman Ndiaye running into the box, squaring up his marker and slapping the ball into the top corner.
Jordan Pickford's stunning save from an Enzo Fernández hit amid a corner melee would be the closest Chelsea came to scoring that day -- and for some time yet (in the Premier League).
April 12: Chelsea 0-3 Manchester City
After plenty of goals -- seven of them, to be exact -- got Chelsea past League One strugglers Port Vale and into the semifinals of the FA Cup, Rosenior's side came back down to earth with a bang.
Pep Guardiola's men, furiously chasing table-toppers Arsenal, were held at bay in the first half, but a Nico O'Reilly header from close range early in the second broke the hosts' resolve. Marc Guéhi made it two with a striker's finish after a lovely Rayan Cherki pass before Jérémy Doku dispossessed Moisés Caicedo (after a hospital pass from Sánchez) and made it three.
In the first half, Marc Cucurella had a goal ruled out for a tight offside, but by the end it was a performance of immense City dominance. Chelsea barely got a foothold in the game after City turned on the afterburners, as their gap to the top sides was once again harshly highlighted.
April 18: Chelsea 0-1 Manchester United
United rocked up to the Bridge with a centre-back pairing of 19-year-old Ayden Heaven and right-back Noussair Mazraoui and yet still left west London with a clean sheet and three points.
That said. it was 90 minutes of pretty dire football decided by one moment of quality from Bruno Fernandes and Matheus Cunha as Chelsea failed to convert their possession into goals.
Rosenior's team had 59% possession, 1.57xG to United's 0.29, 21 shots to four, and hit the woodwork thee times. In the end, though, it was to be their fourth straight defeat in the Premier League and the boos that greeted the full-time whistle were deafening.
April 21: Brighton 3-0 Chelsea
The Nadir. A result that saw Chelsea slide to seventh after five-straight league defeats and a performance that prompted Rosenior to call out his players in public.
"I keep coming out and defending the players," he said after the match. "That's indefensible, that performance tonight. The manner of the goals we conceded, the amount of duels that we lost, the lack of intensity in the team. Something needs to change drastically right now."
Brighton scored three via Ferdi Kadioglu, Jack Hinshelwood and Danny Welbeck, but it could have been more. At the other end, Bart Verbruggen didn't have to make a single save.
If ever a moment epitomised the disconnect between coach and players it was Rosenior screaming at Pedro Neto to take on his man, only for Neto to reach the edge of the Brighton box, stop, and pass it back to Moisés Caicedo.
"The most difficult night not even just here, so far, at this magnificent football club, but in my career," said Rosenior. "Some of the things I witnessed today, I never want to see again."
April 22: Rosenior sacked by Chelsea
Following the performance against Brighton and his comments after the game, the writing appeared to be on the wall. By mid-morning on April 22 there were rumblings and reports that the club were reviewing Rosenior's position.
By the end of the day, he was gone after 106 days.
Fans were clearly unhappy but the decision came just four days out from an FA Cup semifinal against Leeds United. The club are also still fighting for a place in Europe next year.
"This has not been a decision the Club has taken lightly, however recent results and performances have fallen below the necessary standards with still so much more to play for this season," Chelsea said in a statement.
"Everyone at Chelsea FC wishes Liam every success in the future."
