Earlier this week, it looked as if Chelsea had finally turned a corner and were on the march towards a positive second half of the season, which promised the opportunity of silverware in the League Cup.
However, the club's 4-1 loss to Liverpool on Wednesday night sent the Blues crashing back down to earth, as Jürgen Klopp's men tore Mauricio Pochettino's side apart.
Granted, the west Londoners can feel aggrieved over some of the officiating, but the old adage 'boys against men' was the only way to describe how the 90 minutes played out.
By the end of the game, the hosts had racked up an expected goal figure of 3.66, while Chelsea managed just 0.48.
However, while the entire team was poor, Benoît Badiashile's performance was something else altogether, and he must be dropped for the promising Alfie Gilchrist ahead of today's match against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Benoît Badiashile's season in numbers
Now, the former AS Monaco ace doesn't deserve to be dropped solely off the game against Liverpool, but that performance was so bad that were Pochettino to use that as the reason, he would be justified.
GOAL's Peter McVitie gave the Frenchman a rather generous 4/10 due to his 'awful challenge on the first goal', giving away the penalty in the second half and generally looking 'overwhelmed.'
Speaking on The Sports Breakfast (via GOAL), pundit Gabby Agbonlahor was even harsher: "Badiashile, the centre half, he gave probably the worst centre-half performance I've seen in the Premier League in the last two seasons. He was dreadful."
The 22-year-old has been poor multiple times this season and was given an even lower match rating by GOAL's Krishan Davis – a 3/10 – for his woeful display against Newcastle United in the League Cup – a game the Blues actually won.
In Badiashile's ten appearances for Chelsea in all competitions this season, the team have conceded 15 goals, and of those ten games, he has only won five, losing four and drawing the last one.
Benoît Badiashile's season in numbers per WhoScored
Appearances
10
Starts
9
Wins
5
Losses
4
Draws
1
Goals conceded when on the pitch
15
Goals directly at fault for per FBref
1
Ultimately, he might have a lot of potential and promise, but the Frenchman looks shaky more often than not, and with Gilchrist waiting in the wings, it seems farcical to persist with him.
Why Alfie Gilchrist should start
The first major reason, aside from the aforementioned performances, is that with Levi Colwill set to miss out on this game as he has the previous two, there aren't many other options, aside from moving Axel Disasi back to centre-back and starting Malo Gusto at right-back, but with how poorly the entire backline fared against the Reds, that doesn't sound like much of a solution at all.
That said, the "unbelievable" Gilchrist, as he was described by Chelsea legend John Terry, deserves a chance to start regardless of the fitness of others, as the 20-year-old has been impressive in his minor cameos of late, and has a strong track record of solid performances at youth level.
The London-born gem has made 83 appearances for the Blues' various youth sides over the years, and has even managed to chip in with five goals and two assists in that time.
Alfie Gilchrist's Youth Career
Team
Appearances
Goals
Assists
Chelsea U23
47
2
1
Chelsea U18
28
1
1
Chelsea UEFA Youth League
7
2
0
All Stats via Transfermarkt
The Blues prospect had an outstanding season in the Premier League 2 last year and was nominated for the Player of the Season Award in May in recognition of that.
While he didn't win it, the nomination can only bode well for his future.
Mark Robinson, the head coach of Chelsea's development squad, was full of praise for the Cobham star, saying: "He has shown excellent consistency in his play, as well as taking himself out his comfort zone in terms of what we have asked him to do on the ball."
Ultimately, with Colwill out and the unforgivable performances on Wednesday night, starting Gilchrist – who could make his first-ever league start – would not only do him well, but it would also be an excellent way for Pochettino to send the message that players can and will be replaced if they can't reach a certain standard.
