The build-up of bile and anger under the Portuguese had to be addressed but the Blues showed some of the same frailties and blunt edges that have dragged them down all season
Make no mistake, Chelsea were right to sack Jose Mourinho. A club so soaked in bile and so spiralling in form undoubtedly needed a change of leadership to freshen things up and unite players and staff. But a Boxing Day draw with Watford could hardly have done more to underline a change of manager is only the start of the repair job at Stamford Bridge, not a quick fix.
Guus Hiddink, the second-spell boss replacing the last second-spell boss, acknowledged as much upon retaking the job, warning his players that he “shouldn’t be here” – and he emphasised that it is their failings that also need to be addressed by keeping star player Eden Hazard on the bench rather than revert immediately to the biggest names. Chelsea have played badly all season, individually and collectively, and that will not be fixed overnight.
This was an improvement for the Blues; Diego Costa looked more focused and hungry than he has for most of the campaign and Pedro showed signs of the attacking fizz that has been largely absent in his brief Chelsea career so far. But the hosts’ opener came against the run of play and that they fell behind from that position was a fair reflection of Watford’s comparative quality.
Arguably chief among Chelsea’s failings this season has been the sharp decline of a once-colossal defence and they struggled again against Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney, Watford’s energetic and driven forward pair who grabbed a goal each.
Ighalo missed a chance at 0-0 that he would more frequently score and both tested John Terry and Gary Cahill throughout, with the midfield unable to offer enough protection to their centre-backs. It was a testament to how much Watford made them struggle that John Obi Mikel was summoned on for Cesc Fabregas at half-time, a highly necessary substitution that did help to shore up the creaky back line.
Nemanja Matic, nominally the defensive midfielder in that axis alongside Fabregas, certainly seemed unable to do the job on his own, in constrast to his towering performances of last season. Wearing his protective face mask, his field of vision came into question - by those offering the benefit of the doubt, at least - when he made his most decisive contribution to the game by awkwardly giving away the penalty from which Deeney brought Watford level.
A boost in spirit from Hiddink’s arrival appeared to be in evidence, though, with Chelsea biting back with a second-half equaliser when before they would likely have folded to bickering and frustration. Costa’s dynamism was key as he scored it, his second, by smartly evading Craig Cathcart to intercept a delightful low cross from Willian and place precisely beyond Heurelho Gomes. That he will now miss the Manchester United game through suspension is, on this evidence, a significant blow.
The much-maligned Hazard, too, made an impact after being brought on midway through the second half, selling Valon Behrami into a bad tackle to give away a penalty. The resulting spot-kick, however, was a reminder of how much Hiddink still has to do to build up confidence at Stamford Bridge.
Slips happen now and then, and Oscar played a part in Chelsea’s second goal, but there’s nothing like missing a penalty to mess with a player’s head and these are players who have had more than their fair share of losses and misses lately. The likes of Oscar are young and will come back from such setbacks but not all of the Blues are so youthful – particularly in that wobbly defence – and Hiddink will have to get a handle on which of the green shoots of recovery will grow tall and which are likely to wilt.
As the game wore on, Chelsea looked far the likelier to win as Watford tried to shut up shop but they were given another scare here from which they only had some of the firepower to recover – it should make them mindful that Mourinho was but the most visible of the problems at Stamford Bridge. Depending on who is sitting in the dugout at Old Trafford on Monday, their former leader might be learning a similar lesson of his own.
