“Que sera sera, whatever will be, will be, we’re going to Wem-ber-ley, que sera sera…”
It took just 43 minutes for the Stamford Bridge crowd to burst into triumphant song, but Chelsea’s total dismantling of Middlesbrough had already ensured there was nothing presumptuous about their mood. What ended as the most one-sided semi-final second leg in the 64-year history of the League Cup was truly competitive for only its first 14 minutes and was settled beyond doubt before half-time by goals from the home side’s first four shots on target.
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Middlesbrough’s shock 1-0 win at the Riverside Stadium two weeks ago had raised the prospect of a historic semi-final upset, one that would have risked irrevocably tainting Mauricio Pochettino’s slow and painful build in his debut year at Chelsea. His sense of urgency regarding the decider, reflected in an attack-minded starting XI, was entirely appropriate.
At times in those slightly precarious early exchanges, Chelsea morphed into more of a 4-1-5 alignment, with Enzo Fernandez and Cole Palmer pushing right up into the attacking line and leaving Moises Caicedo to patrol the middle third alone, giving space and encouragement to Middlesbrough on every turnover.
Pochettino’s strategy and selection — his boldest call being the benching of Conor Gallagher for only the third time this season in favour of the more explosive Mykhailo Mudryk — was an implicit bet that Middlesbrough, without the rapid Isaiah Jones through injury, lacked the tools to stretch and expose Chelsea in the same way they had done in the first leg.
It worked and, at the other end, Chelsea’s de facto front five kept Middlesbrough’s low block in a heightened state of anxiety while the game was goalless. Michael Carrick’s team were also accommodating foils throughout, dutifully but tentatively playing short passes out of defence into the snapping jaws of Palmer and, later, Gallagher even as the errors mounted.
But it was the full-backs Ben Chilwell — making his first start since a September hamstring injury — and Axel Disasi whose attacking thrust enabled Pochettino’s team to overwhelm their second-tier guests.
Not as long ago as it now feels, Chelsea were a team defined and driven by their wing-backs. To that end, the system was less vital than the personnel; the last three years have provided ample evidence that Chilwell and Reece James are transformative players when healthy and impossible to replace adequately when they are not.
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Chilwell’s attacking raids from left-back were a key feature of the fluid side Pochettino began to construct in pre-season.
One such run in the 12th minute last night, found by a pinpoint Thiago Silva pass, cut through Middlesbrough and was unfortunate not to lead to the opening goal. Instead, he looped a header narrowly wide before being clattered by goalkeeper Tom Glover, the kind of collision referees inexplicably never seem to consider a potential penalty.
Chilwell’s role in the eventual breakthrough a couple of minutes later — a lateral run that evaded two challenges followed by a brilliant pass threaded through the Middlesbrough lines to Raheem Sterling — was less standard than the frequent forward surges that forced the visitors to worry about Chelsea’s left flank, despite Mudryk looking utterly lost in Pochettino’s system.
On the other flank, Disasi (main photo) did enough to suggest he might have more attacking juice as a full-back than moonlighting centre-half Levi Colwill.
First, he initiated a slick give-and-go with Sterling before deftly cutting the ball back for Armando Broja in the sequence that ended with Fernandez sweeping home to double the lead. Then he pounced on an errant Middlesbrough pass to ignite a transition and continued his run, picking up speed like a runaway train but steadying himself to convert Sterling’s low cross for 3-0.
It was a reminder not only of how important attacking full-backs are to Pochettino’s vision for this team but also of the circumstances which continue to hamper his attempts to realise it.
Chilwell put 65 minutes in the tank here as he eases his way back to full fitness, while Disasi — who quietly leads the entire squad for minutes played this season with 2,305 — was only playing right-back at all due to the absences of James and Malo Gusto.
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“Chilly has been out for four months,” Pochettino said after the match. “We use different players (to replace him), like Colwill and Marc Cucurella, who is (now) injured. We have two right-backs that we cannot count (on due to injury) and, of course, we are using Axel.
“It’s always circumstance. That is the most important thing. We do not complain. They were important (in the game) but we need to be consistent. We need to have players like Chilly. (He played) 60, 65 minutes but the objective is to arrive for 90 minutes and then be consistent and play every three or four days. That is the most important thing.”
Chelsea may well need both men again on Friday when Aston Villa visit in the FA Cup fourth round, but this game was the priority.
“With no Europe, no Champions League, no Europa League, no Conference League, to build a team nearly from zero, it was our objective to be at Wembley in February — and that job is done,” Pochettino added.
In reality, this team is being built using many, many zeroes, but Wembley finals, so often a feature of both February and May in the Roman Abramovich years, no longer feel guaranteed for Chelsea.
Owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital are funding an investment project in desperate need of the kind of validation that only silverware can provide. The squad they have assembled since their spring 2022 takeover includes many young players yet to win anything as senior professionals and few things can bond a group together more effectively than tangible success.
Then there is Pochettino, winner of three trophies in 18 months in his previous job at Paris Saint-Germain but remembered by his harshest critics as a serial runner-up before that at Tottenham; a coach who prioritised finishing in the Premier League’s top four over chasing a domestic cup final win he dismissed as the kind of achievement that “only builds your ego”.
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He is striking a very different tone now, one more in keeping with his new environment.
“I am desperate to win a title here,” he insisted after the Middlesbrough victory. “The club, I think Chelsea’s mentality is amazing, they want to win, but we are a new team. We need to build the confidence and trust.”
Making it back to Wembley, even at the expense of Championship opposition, signals progress.
They now face Liverpool, 2-1 up going into tonight’s second leg at Craven Cottage, or Fulham there on Sunday, February 25.
Whatever will be, will be.
GO DEEPER
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(Top photo: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
