Terrace Talk: Stung by Sturridge but we’re still further along the road than we hoped

By Trizia Fiorellino

Of course, when Sturridge’s ridiculous goal hit the back of the net, I was distraught — who wouldn’t be? But we really can’t allow that to overshadow what was a great performance; the fact is we are far ahead of where most Chelsea fans thought we’d be at this stage of the season.

New manager, new style of play, still no additional firepower up front and yet we find ourselves third and unbeaten in all competitions.

There is no question we rode our luck a couple of times, but then, if we had a fit Pedro and had we bought a striker in the summer...

There are lots of positives at the moment – David Luiz is rediscovering his imperious form, improving every week. Tony Rudiger is playing himself into cult status – no-nonsense efficiency, courageous and dependable. Hazard being even more… well Hazard.

Despite all the good, there are still some worries, and with our lack of depth these need to be considered. Azpilicuerta has been shaky all season. I know he was bound to have a dip at some point, but this started at the end of last season and has worryingly continued.

Kante – probably the most important player of the last two seasons (pipe down Hazard fan boys, I said important, not best), was arguably as far as I am concerned) the best defensive midfielder in the Premier League – and here we have Sarri effectively trying to turn him into Frank Lampard. He is doing his damn best, but for me it’s just not working. The conversation in the pub yesterday even turned to the blasphemous – would the team be better without him? The argument being that the manager is trying to shoehorn him into a system that doesn’t need a player like him but that he is too good to leave out.

It’s a really tough one and even as Kante’s number one fan I can see both sides. That said, without him in his traditional role we are losing the ball in the midfield far more and Kante is still looking lost and somewhat panicked when he finds himself in the penalty box. The more he plays this role, the more he will improve obviously but it will never come naturally to him. And although I know the switch has been made for all the right reasons, I’m not sure Sarri is doing what is right for the player or the club.

I’m not even going to discuss our lack of firepower – it is well documented, it’s not Sarri’s doing and there is nothing we can do until the summer.

That wasn’t all meant to sound so doom and gloom but I wanted to slow down the expectation a little as I think we can all say that our start has been beyond what we were all expecting and there will be some tough times ahead – especially should we suffer some key injuries.

But still, it can’t be ignored that we are currently matching Liverpool blow for blow, despite Klopp being three years into his project. Sarri said that he expected Liverpool to win the Premier League this season – I don’t think because he particularly thought they would do, but because he thought they should do.

The goofy grins, dressing like a local and hard done by tirades must be wearing a bit thin now – Klopp has to deliver. No pressure.