Jamie Carragher has apologised to Chelsea fans before firing off a rant about problems in English football right now.
Despite some poor results lately, Chelsea bounced back earlier this week with a super impressive 3-1 away victory over Aston Villa on Wednesday night.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side knocked out Villa in the FA Cup fourth round replay, which sets up a crunch tie with rivals Leeds United in the fifth round.
The Blues are really struggling with their league form this season, but they’re scheduled to face Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final later this month. They’re still alive in the FA Cup tournament, too.
Carragher has discussed in his column his frustration that the same few elite clubs continue to win the majority of the trophies in this country.
With respect to Chelsea, he’s expressed frustration that a Villa side flying high in the Premier League dropped the ball in the cup
“With apologies to Chelsea fans, Aston Villa’s midweek defeat in the FA Cup replay is a setback for English football,” Carragher wrote this morning for The Telegraph.
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“Villa had the ability to go all the way to those Wembley steps. Their loss means that it is highly likely the three major domestic honours will again be shared between the same clubs, underlining how difficult it is to emerge from the pack so the trophy engravers are spelling out different names.
“Since the Premier League was formed in 1992, there have only been three seasons in which the title was not won by Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea or Arsenal.
“Over that period, there are only four years in which one of those clubs or Liverpool did not lift the FA Cup.
“The chances of anyone other than those five winning the League Cup have been better, but not lately. The last team outside of the “Manchester clubs, Chelsea and Liverpool to win the competition was Swansea City in 2013. By May, it is likely that 80 out of the last 96 major domestic trophies will have been paraded at the same five venues.
“This is a healthy situation for the serial winners, but not for our game. We need more variety in the honours’ lists.
“The reason for that is not just the power and wealth of the ‘big five’. Those just below them should have done better.
“… By every measure, Villa are better than Chelsea this season. They were strong favourites going into Wednesday’s game. Realistically, how often is that going to be the case in future years? When the most powerful clubs are down, that is when the rest must take advantage.”
Chelsea continue silverware hunt
It’s certainly not Chelsea’s issue that the likes of Villa and Tottenham continue their long streaks of not winning trophies.
In fairness, the Blues turned in their best performance of the campaign to progress in the cup. It’s just a shame there’s none of that in the league right now.
Chelsea can only mind their own business and try to salvage a turbulent season with silverware.
Of course, it’s fun seeing different clubs succeed, albeit once Chelsea aren’t competing. The hard proof is there that it’s become increasingly more difficult for teams to break the mould in the last few decades, though.
