Former Chelsea defender Jason Cundy says Liam Rosenior must quickly address the squad’s ‘appalling’ disciplinary record, which became something of a ‘liability’ under Enzo Maresca.
Maresca was often criticised for failing to keep his players in check, especially in the latter stages of his 18-month reign at Stamford Bridge – and the statistics are there to back it up, too.
This season, the Blues have accumulated a total of 62 red and yellow cards – five more than bitter rivals Tottenham, the second-worst behaved club in the English top flight.
A week ago, Marc Cucurella became the latest Chelsea player to get himself sent off for a foul on Harry Wilson as the Club World Cup winners slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Fulham.
It meant Cucurella was unable to play a part in Rosenior’s first game in charge at the weekend as the west London giants beat Charlton to book their place in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
While the Spain defender is available again having served his one-match suspension, Cundy believes indiscipline will continue to cause problems for Chelsea unless the issue is nipped in the bud.
After all, their tally of five sendings off after only 21 league games is the most accumulated by any Premier League side in the last 11 years. Just one more red card would bring Chelsea level with the club record they set in 2007/08.
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‘If there is one thing Liam Rosenior can come in and do and make a small impact, is sort our discipline out,’ Cundy said on talkSPORT.
‘Every single week it feels that we’re missing an important player. Injuries are one thing, injuries sometimes you can’t prevent that. But one thing you can prevent are red cards. It drives me insane.
‘Manchester City away, Liam Delap, first thing he does is, he bundles into someone and picks up a yellow card.
‘I understand he wants to impress and there’s an aggressive side to his game which he needs to harness, because I want to keep that part of him.
‘You can’t give yellow cards away for stupid things. Kicking balls away, speaking to the referee, those things drive me insane.
‘Sort that out and you’ll make your job a lot easier to pick from a squad, you’ve got your best players available.’
While Cundy claims Chelsea’s behavioural issues under Maresca became ‘nothing short of a disgrace’, he’s confident indiscipline can be an ‘easy thing’ to fix for Rosenior.
‘Our discipline record under Maresca was nothing short of a disgrace… It was appalling. Nothing ever improved, it was every week,’ he added.
‘Going back to last season, Jackson away at Newcastle, the Club World Cup.
‘We have become a liability. Sort that out and you watch the difference in the team selection that Liam Rosenior will have to choose from.’
Rosenior hasn’t shied away from Chelsea’s disciplinary problems since taking over the reins from Maresca, encouraging his players to channel their ‘passion’ and ’emotion’ in a more positive way.
‘It’s one of a few things we can improve on. I know how we do that,’ the ex-Strasbourg and Hull City told reporters ahead of Chelsea’s Carabao Cup clash with Arsenal.
‘I’ve spoken to the players in a different way about managing setbacks because in life, you get setbacks.
‘They have passion and show emotion for the shirt, which is a positive thing. It’s making sure in key moments we react positively to a setback and stay calm.
‘Those mistakes come from passion, the lads want to win, so I don’t want to take that out of them.
‘To win, you can’t be nice all the time, you have to have an edge and I don’t want to take that away from the lads.’
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