Brighton face Brighton B (or Chelsea as they’re sometimes known)
If you want some indication of what a wonderful, joyous circus Chelsea Football Club have become this past year since Todd Boehly took over, then look no further than the circumstances surrounding Brighton visiting Stamford Bridge in the Carabao Cup.
The Blues have paid over £200 million to take Brighton’s head coach, assistant, first team coach, attacking coach, goalkeeper coach, recruitment specialist, head of recruitment, left back, goalkeeper and defensive midfielder.
That outlay is part of a £1 billion spending spree over 15 months. And yet the Albion head to West London bookie’s favourites to progress to the fourth round of the competition on account of sitting 10 points and 11 places better off than Chelsea in the Premier League standings.
When Tony Bloom refused to sell Moises Caicedo for anything less than £100 million in the summer, Blues fans were all over social media talking about Champions League trophies and how the Seagulls could never say no to Chelsea.
After the deal eventually went through for a British record £115 million and those same supporters had wiped the egg from their faces, they delighted in predicting the end of the Albion’s dalliance with the top six.
“We’ve got your best player and we’re throwing a party when Brighton get relegated,” they said. Hope they still have the receipt for the champagne ordered for that particular shindig as it does not look like it’s getting consumed anytime soon.
Already, there is talks swirling that Mauricio Pochettino is in trouble. If Chelsea were to bow out of the Carabao Cup against Brighton, lose to local rivals Fulham on Monday and fail to win at Burnley before the international break, it would leave them having only beaten Luton Town with the season 10 weeks old.
Quite how making another managerial change is sensible remains to be seen; but then again, this is the club who opened the bidding for Caicedo at £55 million, confidently said they would not pay over £80 million and then ended up forking out double their initial offer. Boehly could write a bloody good book on How Not to Run a Football Club.
All of which means that Chelsea v Brighton is a huge game for the hosts. Not only do they need to avoid the embarrassment of another defeat to the club they constantly pillage, but the Pochettino Era will hang by a thread if Brighton progress.
For Brighton, the trip to Stamford Bridge matters far less. The Albion are fighting on three other fronts this season; for Champions League qualification, to make a serious mark in Europe and to go one better than last year’s FA Cup semi final.
In terms of importance, the Carabao Cup would sit bottom of that list of priorities for most Albion supporters. And that would be true for most managers, too.
Except of course Roberto De Zerbi is not most managers. His elite mindset means he wants to win every game and every competition; it would not be a surprise to see him send the first team to Middle Road next month to take on Shoreham in the Sussex Transport Senior Cup.
Remember how he bristled last year when Brighton were eliminated by Charlton Athletic on penalties? Most managers would sweep that under the carpet with a shrug of the shoulders, dismissing the Carobao Cup as unimportant.
De Zerbi instead frequently referenced how angry he remained at what happened at the Valley weeks and months later.
The Brighton head coach has already confirmed he will pick a side to face Chelsea which is good enough to win. “The best team I can name”, De Zerbi said in his pre-game press conference.
“I have to consider the players who are at risk of injury, maybe the players who can’t play 90, and those who played 90 minutes against Bournemouth can’t play the full game tonight. I have to think about another game on Saturday.”
Ominously for Chelsea, none of Evan Ferguson, Kaoru Mitoma or Ansu Fati played more than 45 minutes in the 3-1 win over Plucky Little Bournemouth at the weekend.
Carlos Baleba meanwhile has just one brief Premier League cameo under his belt since his £25 million move from Lille.
Baleba seems certain to start and given everything which has gone on between Brighton and Chelsea these 14 months, nobody would be surprised if he turned out to be the best player on the pitch at Stamford Bridge.
Should that transpire, it would pour more scorn on Boehly and his Blues – £115 million signing Caicedo struggles with life at Chelsea whilst his replacement at Brighton signed for a quarter of the cost shines on his full Albion debut.
“It’s too far away to speak about winning the competition but for sure we want to play another game in this competition,” were the other noteworthy comments from De Zerbi.
“The mentality of this team is you can’t decide which games you have play seriously and which ones you can’t. When we wear the shirt, we have to push. I only know this way.”
“You have to respect our club and fans and of course ourselves. We want to respect the people who come to the stadium.”
And rightly so, seeing as those Albion fans heading to Chelsea have paid £36 for a match ticket. A disgusting price for a competition much of football treats with disdain, especially in comparison to the £15 Arsenal charged when Brighton went to the Emirates in the same stage of the Carabao Cup last season.
Chelsea presumably want to try and claw back some of that £200 million given to the Albion under the Boehly regime.
Having had their pants pulled down every time they have met Brighton on or off the pitch recently, they will clearly take any little win they can.
Including tonight. The Brighton B Team assembled at Stamford Bridge need victory far more than the Brighton A side who currently sit third in the Premier League.
Which would make the Chelsea meltdown in the event of yet another reversal at the hands of the Albion quite spectacular.
