Chelsea still one bad beating away from crisis despite fillip of heavy cup win | OneFootball

This is a syndicated version of this story, originally featured on the BBC Sport website.

When results are bad and morale is worse, there’s not much more you can hope for than a 7-0 win, especially one with seven different goal-scorers.

The victory over Port Vale gives Chelsea a huge injection of positive emotions at a crucial time, relieving pressure on Liam Rosenior and distracting from the mess off the field. It should bring a better mood to training this week, and some smiles back to a group that was at breaking point.

But all of that good energy will dissipate very quickly against Man City today if the Blues aren’t competitive. Things will return to the gloom of the last few weeks instantly if the Blues don’t at least put up a fight against Pep Guardiola’s side.

Stamford Bridge will be in full voice backing their team – but if they put in a performance as feckless as those against Everton and Newcastle in recent games, that support will turn on them quickly.

Reasons to be cheerful for Blues against City

There are reasons to be positive – Estevao is back, Joao Pedro is threatening, there is finally some depth in midfield, even Cole Palmer is looking better physically.But there are also reasons to be very afraid – the defence looks ragged without Reece James and Trevoh Chalobah, and City could really tear them apart.

The mentality of this group has been questioned, even by their manager who pointed out in his press conference last week that one of his priorities for the summer was to buy players who were “emotionally stable” and able to cope when things go wrong.

If they fold with the same ease on Sunday as they have in their recent defeats, the reasons for that priority will become even more obvious. Their Champions League hopes may be reduced to almost nothing, but these players need to play for pride and for their future in this project ahead of another busy summer.

Will Faulks @willfaulks