Boos and chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning” cascaded down from the stands containing the Chelsea faithful, as the woes continued for interim Manager Rafael Benitez. Three games into his hiring as Chelsea manager, the blues have failed to record a single victory and have only scored one goal.

Rafael Benitez Already under pressure at Chelsea

In a game of two completely different halves Chelsea were dramatically beaten 3-1 by fellow Londoners West Ham. The loss now extends Chelsea winless streak to 7 games, marking the worse run in the Roman Abramovich era.

After a 1st half in which they were totally dominant, things could not be so different in the 2nd half where it all fell apart. In the 1st half, it appeared as though Benitez had finally gotten it right as Chelsea’s performance was excellent. They practically had West Ham chasing shadows, their passing was excellent, their movement swift, and defensively they were sound.

They looked like the Chelsea of old. They went up 1-0 on a goal from Juan Mata, beautifully crafted, with superb build up play between Victor Moses and Fernando Torres. Chelsea did it all in the first half, except score more goals.

Chelsea failing to capitalize on their dominance by not putting West Ham away, was all West Ham manager, Sam Allardyce needed, as he re-grouped his Hammers side, made some tactical and personal changes and somehow sent out a totally reinvigorated team.

From the opening whistle of the second half the changes were evident. West Ham came out the blocks flying, they pressed high up the field, denied Chelsea space and time on the ball. The press paid off as Chelsea became unsettled, from a side that was in total command in the 1st half, Chelsea now looked a shadow of themselves. Under the West Ham pressure, Chelsea’s brittle confidence was shattered. As the minutes advanced the more Chelsea succumbed to the physical and intimidating West Ham surge.

West Ham getting on the scoreboard, was a matter of when, not if. West Ham were led by the physical presence of Carlton Cole, who opened the scoring after heading in after climbing all over the Chelsea defender Ivanovic, who wanted no part of the challenge. For the second goal, Cole again restated his physical presence by backing down his defender and receiving the ball way too deep in the box, far too easily before laying off for half time sub, Diame to convert.

The third was again indicative of the West Ham pressure, as they forced Chelsea full back Ashley Cole into an error. By this point in the game Chelsea looked a side lost at sea. As things got tougher and West Ham continued applying the pressure, this Chelsea side shrunk and faded from the challenge. The Chelsea 2nd half performance had no comparison to the team’s of the recent past that were filled with huge, tough characters that thrived on pressure and brimmed with confidence. This Chelsea side is severely missing the leadership of the injured John Terry and Frank Lampard, while desperately missing the influence of the departed Didier Drogba. Currently they are leaderless, directionless, emotionless, and as a result were totally embarrassed. It’s going to be a tough task for Benitez to arrest the Chelsea slide, and being the subject of the Chelsea boo boys doesn’t help the cause. Big decisions are on the horizon for Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, as his club dwindles on the edge of an abyss.