Mauricio Pochettino is once more fighting to prove his worth at Chelsea after being hammered 5-0 away to Arsenal on Tuesday night.
The Blues entered the game on their best unbeaten streak in the league for two years but left the Emirates Stadium humbled and humiliated by a side they used to enjoy playing.
It is now just one win in the last 10 against the Gunners for Chelsea, a record symptomatic of a club in decline facing one moving forward.
There have been some horror shows in there too but nothing particularly close to the 20 minutes after half-time here in which Kai Havertz and Ben White both scored twice.
Pochettino is now scrambling to try and make a vague success of his first year in charge.
The Blues are still within touching distance of the top six - just three points off Newcastle and Manchester United - but have been thoroughly battered and bruised. The Argentine will now have to pick up his players for yet more testing fixtures against Aston Villa and Tottenham to come.
For many, this loss was the final straw. Supporters who have never truly connected with their new boss have had enough now with more pressure being pushed onto those above Pochettino in the pecking order.
With four games left of the season and an assessment of his first term to come in the summer, football.london writers have given their thoughts on just where Chelsea go from now.
Chelsea appear to have come back to the start, exactly where they were 12 months ago after sacking Graham Potter.
Albeit with new players and a younger core, the general consensus is that Pochettino is not getting the best out of a talented group that should be higher up the table.
That is largely true but it also ignores the mitigating factors - and there are plenty - working against him.
Ultimately, failure to qualify for Europe and more struggles of this nature will leave Chelsea with only one decision to make in the summer. It's hard to see Pochettino being on the touchline come August.
This has been the case for a while now and even an extended run of improved form - blotted by yet more chaotic results - cannot change it.
Chelsea are staring down the barrel of having a fourth permanent manager in a little over 18 months.
Who is that guy? Good luck to them. Chelsea are a poorly run club from top to bottom right now and Pochettino's warnings over his squad in recent weeks carry plenty of weight.
Everyone is culpable for the mess right now and the easiest change is still the manager. Pochettino hasn't particularly helped himself in this scenario with questionable tactical decisions, poor use of substitutions, failing to build a relationship with fans, and middling results at best.
But the argument for less change being better is still strong. Do fans trust the decision-makers to call the shots correctly this time after nearly two years of errors in important departments? That is certainly another thing.
Either way, Chelsea are behind in the race to snap up a head coach and that could cause them problems. Jose Mourinho part three, anyone? It wouldn't even be a surprise at this stage.
News Source: football.london
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