The Chelsea Chronicle
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
A brace, and Morgan Rogers takes the afternoon — 9.59
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Morgan Rogers provided it, and the 9.59 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match19 Dec 2026
After 10 games, Chelsea finally taste it again
The first defeat in 10 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Aston Villa; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Daniel Walker keeps the receipts
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Chelsea may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match19 Dec 2026
Chelsea make home a hard place to visit
10 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Wesley Fofana falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match15 Dec 2026
Chelsea find a way past Brighton
Brighton made Chelsea work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Match19 Dec 2026
Chelsea come up short against Aston Villa
Aston Villa left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Chelsea
Jorrel Hato and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch21 Dec 2026
11 clean sheets on loan for Filip Jörgensen
15 appearances at RC Strasbourg and the goals have stopped going in. Chelsea lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
In brief
- Squad Cole Palmer is carrying Chelsea
- The dugout Christopher Mitchell: “No excuses”
- The dugout When it matters, Emiliano Martínez plays