Chelsea Fans Call for Badiashile to Be Sold After Error-Prone Display in Humiliating Defeat to Celtic
Enzo Maresca’s first pre-season in charge of Chelsea has got off to a disastrous start, with the Blues suffering a humiliating 4-1 loss to Scottish champions Celtic. The Italian coach has taken Chelsea to the United States for their pre-season tour, but the two games played so far have not exactly gone to plan.
Chelsea drew 2-2 against League One side Wrexham in Santa Clara, and things only got worse in Notre Dame, where they were thrashed by Celtic. Brendan Rodgers’ side raced into a 2-0 lead by half-time, thanks to goals from Matt O’Riley and Kyogo Furuhashi. Luis Palma netted a third in the last quarter of an hour, with Mikey Johnston scoring Celtic’s fourth shortly afterwards. Christopher Nkunku scored from the penalty spot for what proved to be nothing more than a late consolation for the Premier League side.
Chelsea’s defence was at sixes and sevens, with Benoit Badiashile’s error-prone display causing chaos. The France international’s short pass went straight to Palma, who slotted past Robert Sanchez to score Celtic’s third goal. The blunder sparked a flurry of criticism on social media, with some fans calling for Badiashile to be sold.
"Always gives the ball away in dangerous areas," wrote one fan. "He did it multiple times last season and he has started this season." Another Chelsea fan posted: "Can’t believe we are going to sell Chalobah and keep Badiashile." The criticism didn’t stop there, with another supporter writing: "Nice pass lol what a defence." One sarcastic fan even said: "You’re telling me Badiashile is no good with the ball at his feet. Who knew." Another fan simply said: "Badiashile is fundamentally bad at football."
Chelsea have three more friendlies Stateside against Mexican side Club America, Manchester City, and Real Madrid. Their final pre-season outing is against Inter Milan, before beginning the Premier League campaign at Stamford Bridge in mid-August against City.
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