Chelsea's new signings draw a blank in frantic draw with Fulham
PROFLIGATE: Chelsea's David Datro Fofana has a shot on goal during the Premier League match against Fulham at Stamford Bridge. Pic: John Walton/PA Wire
Now we know why Paris St Germain officials branded Chelsea a circus of a club earlier this week. And that was before a ball had even been kicked in this frantic Friday night west London derby.
Fulham celebrated the draw like a win and rightly so as they maintained their unlikely attempt to secure European football, still looking down in the Premier League table on their more celebrated London neighbours.
Chelsea spent hundreds of millions on new players last month but still had cash spare for February entertainments. Maybe it was to offset some expenditure for the FFP investigators.
A booming sound system, flame throwers, flashing floodlights and announcer on the pitch shouting like a revved up ringmaster to introduce the international acts made a football match more like something out of the world renowned Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey travelling circus company.
The real ringmaster, Chelsea co-owner, chairman and Interim Sporting Director Todd Boehly, looked down from the most expensive seat in the stadium.
For the sell out crowd at Stamford Bridge had understandably stepped right up on Friday night to the Boehly show. When your mid-table club (Chelsea are now ninth) outspends the combined financial might of France, Germany, Italy and Spain in a transfer window, it makes for an appointment to view.
Manager Graham Potter denied it but must have felt compelled to show off some of his new toys and handed home debuts to €120m deadline day buy Enzo Fernandez from Benfica and €100m winger Mykhailo Mudryk.
The surprise inclusion was forward Hakim Ziyech, who spent deadline day in Paris waiting in vain for Chelsea officials to get the right forms filed to PSG so he could get out of the mad house. Hence the circus taunt. Why he thought the club that gives us Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar would be any more grounded is a question only for the Moroccan.
Potter obviously rates him still, maybe a bit more than another January signing Benoit Badisahille, a relative bargain bucket buy €37m defender from Monaco.
He also started but was not deemed good enough to make Potter's 25-man Champions League squad for the second half of the season.
Such are the decisions for the boss of a 33-strong Premier League squad when he has to whittle it down to his finest ahead of their last 16 tie against Borussia Dortmund.
Anyway, surely any combination of the Chelsea galacticos would be good enough to beat a relatively impoverished Fulham side without a win here since 1979 having spent about €8m compared to Chelsea's record €320m+ last month.
That is what they thought only a few weeks ago when Fulham secured their first win in 18 years over Chelsea. So recent was that clash at the Cottage star that Blues loan signing Joao Felix was still serving his three-match suspension for this return fixture on Friday night.
Fulham, with Marco Silva marking his 400th match as a manager, looked far from intimidated and played with the conviction of a well-drilled team.
They so nearly took the lead too when Andreas Periera let fly from distance and keeper Kepa tipped around the post at full stretch.
The only position Chelsea obviously needed to spend big on was a reliable goalscoring forward. Shot-shy Kai Havertz was the focal point of their attack on Friday night but failed to even find the target with a succession of decent first half chances.
He did hit a post following a sublime Ziyech pass on half-time, but a clinical forward would have scored nine times out of ten.
To be fair to Chelsea they just about shaded the first half, but Potter was concerned enough to withdraw mega-signing Mudryk during the break and send on yet another new wide man for the start of the second half as €33m PSV signing Noni Madueke made his bow.
The England under-21 international looked like an upgrade and more suited to the demands of the Premier League, but it did nothing to impress the Chelsea supporters.
Surely they would want to make the new boys feel welcome, part of the new era, but all we could hear from the press box behind the Chelsea dug-out were the effervescent Fulham fans.
Half an hour to go and Potter tried his luck again by introducing reliable old hand Cesar Azpilicueta and proven England forward Raheem Sterling.
Chelsea looked better. Their crowd briefly made some noise and we had the prospect of a thrilling finale. When Fernandez brilliantly whipped a dipping shot inches wide the Fulham faithful bravely chanted 'what a waste of money.'
Potter responded by sending on one of his cheaper New Year trinkets in the form of David Datro Forfana. The Ivorian forward nearly won it when he rounded keeper Bernd Leno but his shot could not beat retreating defender Tim Ream.
'Money can't buy me love' sang the Beatles. Now we know it can't buy a goal either. Millions of workers in England spent this week on the picket line and still Chelsea could not find a striker.
Arrizabalaga 6, James 6 (Azpilicueta 60), Thiago Silva 6, Badiashile 7, Cucurella 6 (Chilwell 84), Fernandez 6, Gallagher 6, Ziyech 6 (Sterling 60), Mount 6 (DD Fofana 75), Mudryk 5 (Madueke 45), Havertz.
Bettinelli, Chalobah, Koulibaly, Chukwuemeka.
Leno 6, Tete 7, Diop 6, Ream 7, Antonee Robinson 7, Reed 6 (Cairney 90), Joao Palhinha 7, Decordova-Reid 6 (Solomon 75), Andreas Pereira 7 (Kurzawa 90), Willian 7 (Wilson 75), Mitrovic 6 (Vinicius 90).
Rodak, Adarabioyo, Duffy, James.
Stuart Attwell 5.
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