Chelsea are well on track to beat their numbers from last season.
Normally such a statement would be regarded as a good thing, a reason to be optimistic. Chelsea are eight points better off at the same stage — six fixtures played — so results and performances are certainly providing cause to be so.
However, this is a piece highlighting a negative that needs to be addressed by head coach Enzo Maresca — and soon: the team’s poor disciplinary record.
In 2023-24 Chelsea broke a Premier League record for most yellow cards received in a single season. When Malo Gusto received the club’s last booking in the 78th minute of their final game against Bournemouth, it took their tally to 105 (plus four reds), beating the previous best (or worst depending on how you see it) of 101 set by Leeds in 2021-22. There were only two matches in the league campaign where Chelsea did not get a card (Manchester United away and Tottenham at home).
Those grim numbers were achieved under former head coach Mauricio Pochettino, but things do not seem to be improving under Maresca. Chelsea sit top of the bookings table again with 21 accrued in half a dozen fixtures. That works out as an average of 3.5 per game and if this rate is maintained, it would see the club end up with 133 by the end of May. According to whoscored.com, it also puts them in fourth spot among the top five leagues in Europe.
It can be argued that the numbers have been skewed by the Bournemouth fixture last month when referee Anthony Taylor booked eight Chelsea players. It was not one-way traffic as Bournemouth fell foul of the official six times themselves, meaning the 14 yellows (not including the two shown to the two head coaches), is another Premier League disciplinary record with Chelsea’s name on it.
But while some of the transgressions could be dismissed as a bit harsh that night, there were incidents where Taylor will argue he was not left with much choice and had to apply the letter of the law. Nicolas Jackson and Jadon Sancho were both punished for dissent. Renato Veiga was booked because he jumped into the crowd to celebrate Christopher Nkunku’s late winner.
But Bournemouth is not the only match where Chelsea have fallen foul with the referee. So far they boast a 100 per cent record in the Premier League in terms of at least one player being booked per match. Here is a breakdown of their wrongdoings in the six league fixtures they have played:
When The Athletic raised this topic with Maresca a week after the Bournemouth game, the Italian downplayed it. “I don’t think it is a discipline problem at all,” he said. “The Bournemouth game was the kind of game because of the pitch, because of the game, sometimes you are required to make some fouls.
“I don’t think it’s about that. The day after, I watched Arsenal and Tottenham and I think in the first-half there were seven or eight yellow cards, so the average was there.
“Have I spoken to the players about it? No, no, absolutely (not). It was a normal game and some of the yellow cards were probably avoidable from the referee, but he decided to go another way.”
Maresca’s views will have been treated with a lot of sympathy from a fanbase that is not shy in expressing their frustration whenever Taylor is in charge of one of their games — the events of the 2017 and 2020 FA Cup finals alone are usually met with swear words by the regulars at Stamford Bridge.
But Chelsea have not reached such large numbers of yellow cards over the last 13 months due to just one strict match official. They do need to look in the mirror.
As Maresca concedes, in a fast, tough, competitive sport, fouls do happen and on many occasions, a yellow card soon follows. But Chelsea are guilty of picking up a lot of ‘cheap’ bookings too. Look at this table below where we have taken away all the yellow cards shown for fouls since the start of last season. There are far too many for needless offences which could be easily avoided:
Football is an emotional game and players are not robots so no one should expect their players to be angels for 90 minutes every week. But 23 cards for dissent, with five already this season, is definitely far too many. There is a bit too much time-wasting going on as well.
Chelsea are not an overly physical team. Statistics compiled by Opta show they average 10.5 fouls per game. Only Brighton, Manchester City and Brentford make fewer. Their average for tackles is just 16.7 per match, which ranks them 16th in the Premier League. This shows that Maresca’s side are getting booked more than they should for how they play.
Marc Cucurella and Wesley Fofana, two of Maresca’s regulars in defence, are already on four bookings. Premier League rules dictate that you have to serve an automatic one-game ban if you get five in the first 19 fixtures. There is a two-match ban should you reach 10 yellows in 32 fixtures and a three-match ban for 15 yellows before the end of the season.
Jackson serves as an example of how you can avoid trouble when you put your mind to it. The striker was one of Chelsea’s worst offenders last season with nine yellow cards in the first 24 league matches. But he then went 11 league games (15 all competitions) without further punishment to avoid the two-game suspension.
Maresca has responded modestly to any questions regarding whether Chelsea can challenge for the title, saying there is a lot to improve in attack and defence. Trying to reduce the yellow card count should be added to the list.
(Top photo: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
