Chelsea vs West Ham: Alan Smith on Blues watershed moment as Manuel Pellegrini faces motivation dilemma

On form: Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek
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Alan Smith8 April 2019

In football, you occasionally see watershed moments when something happens to bring about lasting change.

I wonder if we saw that with Chelsea on Wednesday when, for the game against Brighton, Callum Hudson-Odoi made his first League start, Ruben Loftus-Cheek took advantage of his chance with a wonderful goal and Andreas Christensen contributed in defence to a welcome clean sheet.

The performances of this trio, not to mention that of Olivier Giroud who took his goal brilliantly, certainly gave Maurizio Sarri something to think about when selecting tonight’s team to face West Ham.

And we’re at a stage in the season when the Italian might be thinking that he needs to do something radical to save his job. Because time is running out. If he doesn’t make changes now to a previously predictable line-up producing uninspiring displays, he may never get another chance.

Chelsea fans, after all, are far from convinced, and I don’t suppose the club’s hierarchy are either, given the lack of progress post-Antonio Conte. With the side no better off this time around, fingers will be twitching over the eject button.

As for the Hammers, April’s schedule looks very tough, what with trips to Manchester United and Tottenham straddling the visit of Leicester, a direct rival for that coveted best-of-the-rest seventh place.

It would be a shame if the season dribbled to an early close, in the way that can happen when players lack motivation. For Manuel Pellegrini, that is the challenge – to keep the lads going right till the end.

In the manager’s favour, a feisty London derby should get pulses racing. If it doesn’t, he’ll know that too many are mentally on the beach already.

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