Just how many problems do Chelsea have?
[Getty Images] I will admit to being spoiled rotten at the weekend. I was co-commentating at the Everton v Chelsea game on radio, but I was also there as a guest in the Everton boardroom pre-match and post-match. Everton are a very classy club that treats their former players with stunning kindness and respect.
Tim Cahill and Yakubu were also at that sumptuous dining table, though they did not have my split loyalties and were both delighted with Everton's rout of Chelsea. We did share our surprise, however, at Chelsea's performance - or lack of! Last week, I wrote about the lack of experienced leaders in the Chelsea side and this was a comment repeated by just about every ex-player I met.
I was down at Stamford Bridge for the 3-0 (8-2 on aggregate) hammering by Paris St-Germain during the week and another bunch of former stars voiced their concerns about the same problem. When there is a lack of team spirit, desire and cohesion, you need leaders. That may not be the entire problem though - you do not know for sure unless you are in the dressing room.
It could simply be exhaustion because of too many games and facing an Everton side who had not faced the European champions during the week, or indeed anyone. There is the long-term fatigue we all predicted from playing in the Fifa Club World Cup with two tough Premier League seasons either side of it. Some others did suggest that maybe a few of the players just were not "having" the new manager, Liam Rosenior.
David Moyes' Everton certainly fought harder man for man than Liam's Chelsea, but this is little more than guesswork. Could it be just down the catalogue of injured players? That would tie in with overworked theory.