{"id":334696,"date":"2026-03-08T02:01:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T02:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/334696\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T02:01:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T02:01:07","slug":"chelsea-relegation-claim-made-as-1-5bn-waste-exposed-despite-stumble-past-wrexham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/334696\/","title":{"rendered":"Chelsea relegation claim made as \u00a31.5bn waste exposed despite stumble past Wrexham"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve grown to enjoy Alan Shearer on co-comms, but his constant \u2018Proper FA Cup tie\u2019 assertions during Chelsea\u2019s victory over Wrexham underlined how the boosterism of the competition will never die.<\/p>\n

Happily, Shearer was correct in this case.<\/p>\n

The boosterism was extended to Wrexham, of course. The BBC\u2019s half-time coverage featured a matey interview with executive director Humphrey Kerr, with Micah Richards fearlessly holding him to account by complimenting his jacket.<\/p>\n

There were also several obligatory shots of the owners early on. Channelling our inner Richards, we noted that Rob McElhenney looked particularly underdressed for a March evening in North Wales.<\/p>\n

On the pitch, Chelsea may have progressed to the quarter-finals, but they remain a case study in how little \u00a31.5billion buys you in football\u2019s modern economy.<\/p>\n

Their starting XI at Wrexham would probably flirt with relegation, although it was still probably strong enough to beat modern-day makeweights like Ajax or Juventus.<\/p>\n

Tosin belongs in the exclusive club of free transfers that feel overpriced. The lesser-spotted Romeo Lavia was rustier than the remains of the Titanic.<\/p>\n

Liam Delap flickered, but this was another opportunity spurned. Liam Rosenior clearly wants to make things work, but Delap is the most spiritually Everton player<\/a> since Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Robert Sanchez\u2019s inner monologue must be scarily similar to Mark Corrigan\u2019s, the hesitation visible from every pore as Wrexham came forward.<\/p>\n

As Wayne Rooney noted, Sanchez needed to \u201ccome and clear it up\u201d as soon as Sam Smith was through to open the scoring.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always a place for the right long ball\u201d, said Guy Mowbray, voice barely audible over the smacking of lips.<\/p>\n

The Chelsea goalkeeper retreated again 10 minutes later when Smith burst through. He later sold Lavia short with a second-half pass. If we can see his limitations, why can\u2019t the brains trust who run the club?<\/p>\n

Chelsea were fortunate to be level at the break. Their slow possession football allowed Wrexham to maintain defensive shape with ease.<\/p>\n

But the (club) world champions had enough strength in depth to beat their stubborn opponents.<\/p>\n

Pedro Neto is a player who really sets the teeth on edge with his decision-making, but Chelsea looked most likely to score when he was on the ball.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s natural, even expected, to feel negatively predisposed towards Alejandro Garnacho<\/a>. But he does have a knack for making things happen.<\/p>\n

His shot was deflected in via Arthur Okonkwo for Chelsea\u2019s equaliser and it was the Argentinian\u2019s strike that nudged them ahead in extra-time.<\/p>\n

Joao Pedro sealed the game in the 120th minute. The phrase \u2018world-class\u2019 has been drained of much of its meaning, but his finish was the night\u2019s classiest moment.<\/p>\n

Chelsea have been England\u2019s premier cup team since 2003, with a Japanese knotweed-like presence in semi-finals and finals. They\u2019ll be menaces against any opponent going forward.<\/p>\n

But watching the Blues too often leaves us wondering \u2018is that it?\u2019. They didn\u2019t play well at the Racecourse, but found a way.<\/p>\n

Our favourite moment was Josh Acheampong\u2019s transformation into prime Ronaldo to make it 2-2, a finish that was only stopped from entering the earth\u2019s orbit by the roof of the net.<\/p>\n

Perhaps Chelsea could\u2019ve built around their Cobham graduates, instead of fattening them up for market? If nothing else, it\u2019d have earned them a slice of BBC boosterism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We\u2019ve grown to enjoy Alan Shearer on co-comms, but his constant \u2018Proper FA Cup tie\u2019 assertions during Chelsea\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334697,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[6898,3708,10287,914,42,1100,43,3106,40,38,41,39,9418],"class_list":["post-334696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-chelsea","tag-f365-features","tag-f365-says","tag-front-page","tag-headlines","tag-home-page","tag-news","tag-popular","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}