Chelsea’s £1.5bn waste exposed despite stumble past Wrexham in Proper FA Cup Tie | OneFootball

We’ve grown to enjoy Alan Shearer on co-comms, but his constant ‘Proper FA Cup tie’ assertions during Chelsea’s victory over Wrexham underlined how the boosterism of the competition will never die.

Happily, Shearer was correct in this case.

The boosterism was extended to Wrexham, of course. The BBC’s half-time coverage featured a matey interview with executive director Humphrey Kerr, with Micah Richards fearlessly holding him to account by complimenting his jacket.

There were also several obligatory shots of the owners early on. Channelling our inner Richards, we noted that Rob McElhenney looked particularly underdressed for a March evening in North Wales.

On the pitch, Chelsea may have progressed to the quarter-finals, but they remain a case study in how little £1.5billion buys you in football’s modern economy.

Their starting XI at Wrexham would probably flirt with relegation, although it was still probably strong enough to beat modern-day makeweights like Ajax or Juventus.

Tosin belongs in the exclusive club of free transfers that feel overpriced. The lesser-spotted Romeo Lavia was rustier than the remains of the Titanic.

Liam Delap flickered, but this was another opportunity spurned. Liam Rosenior clearly wants to make things work, but Delap is the most spiritually Everton player since Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

Meanwhile, Robert Sanchez’s inner monologue must be scarily similar to Mark Corrigan’s, the hesitation visible from every pore as Wrexham came forward.

As Wayne Rooney noted, Sanchez needed to “come and clear it up” as soon as Sam Smith was through to open the scoring.

“There’s always a place for the right long ball”, said Guy Mowbray, voice barely audible over the smacking of lips.

The Chelsea goalkeeper retreated again 10 minutes later when Smith burst through. He later sold Lavia short with a second-half pass. If we can see his limitations, why can’t the brains trust who run the club?

Chelsea were fortunate to be level at the break. Their slow possession football allowed Wrexham to maintain defensive shape with ease.

But the (club) world champions had enough strength in depth to beat their stubborn opponents.

Pedro Neto is a player who really sets the teeth on edge with his decision-making, but Chelsea looked most likely to score when he was on the ball.

And it’s natural, even expected, to feel negatively predisposed towards Alejandro Garnacho. But he does have a knack for making things happen.

His shot was deflected in via Arthur Okonkwo for Chelsea’s equaliser and it was the Argentinian’s strike that nudged them ahead in extra-time.

Joao Pedro sealed the game in the 120th minute. The phrase ‘world-class’ has been drained of much of its meaning, but his finish was the night’s classiest moment.

Chelsea have been England’s premier cup team since 2003, with a Japanese knotweed-like presence in semi-finals and finals. They’ll be menaces against any opponent going forward.

But watching the Blues too often leaves us wondering ‘is that it?’. They didn’t play well at the Racecourse, but found a way.

Our favourite moment was Josh Acheampong’s transformation into prime Ronaldo to make it 2-2, a finish that was only stopped from entering the earth’s orbit by the roof of the net.

Perhaps Chelsea could’ve built around their Cobham graduates, instead of fattening them up for market? If nothing else, it’d have earned them a slice of BBC boosterism.