Four takeaways from Chelsea's brutal loss to Aston Villa

FROM STAMFORD BRIDGE - Chelsea's latest embarrassment came on Sunday with a 1-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa.

Ollie Watkins settled the scores in the second half with a well-taken goal on the counter after Malo Gusto was sent off for the hosts.

The Blues began brightly at Stamford Bridge but failed to turn chances into goals once again as they fell to their third defeat of the season. They have now made their worst start to a top-flight season since 1978/79.

Here are four key takeaways from west London.

Chelsea have made an absolute mess of their squad-building

Todd Boehly and BlueCo have spent over £1bn on transfers and they should remain under intense scrutiny for, as opposition fans often taunt, a 'waste of money'.

For Chelsea to still have no reliable scoring threat after their woes of last season is an indescribable failure of power at the top. A star striker should have been top of the Blues' shopping list and they have placed an enormous weight of responsibility on the young shoulders of the raw Nicolas Jackson.

There has been too much change and upheaval at Stamford Bridge for players to form the requisite bonds needed to act like a functional team, let alone one that challenges for honours. It all stems from upstairs.

But Mykhailo Mudryk is worth persisting with

Chelsea probably overpaid to sign Mykhailo Mudryk and he will struggle at this rate to pay back a fee that could rise to £89m.

But they are finally starting to see his potential, impressing for a second-week running. The Ukrainian showed tremendous drive to continually take the ball and try to get at Aston Villa, even at stages where the door was getting emphatically slammed back in his face.

Mudryk's ingenuity led to one of Chelsea's best chances, fooling the Aston Villa backline with a clever reverse pass between two defenders and threading through Jackson, who was denied by Emi Martinez.

Considering all that's happened for Mudryk in a whirlwind couple of years - professionally and back in his home country - it's worth Chelsea continuing to give him opportunities to strut his stuff.

Enzo Fernandez is being wasted

During his first season at Tottenham, Mauricio Pochettino pushed Mousa Dembele into the number ten role. The theory was he would cause more danger as he would be closer to the opposition box and settled in the final third. It didn't work.

A similar experiment is occurring with Enzo Fernandez at Chelsea. The Argentine was superb on the opening weekend of the season in a credible 1-1 draw with Liverpool starting in a deeper role, but Pochettino has insisted on playing him closer to the striker since.

Fernandez doesn't carry enough goal threat for this to work and he continually gets lost and suffocated between the lines. He needs to be on the ball more, and Chelsea need another technical player in the middle as is - Moises Caicedo and Conor Gallagher can only do so much.

Mauricio Pochettino needs to stop the bleeding

Part of the reason Chelsea gave up on Graham Potter so quickly was his inability to just find wins and goals when under pressure, the expectations and scrutiny far different than when he was at Brighton.

Pochettino is getting caught in a similar storm. He's stressed that he has taken on a long-term project and considering the unenviable circumstances, patience will be needed. There is chaos at all levels of the club. But Chelsea need to show something tangible.

Find a way to score goals having gone three games without one. Find a way to sustain threat. Find a way not to lose 1-0 two home matches on the trot. The process can only be extended if there are signs of promise and right now there's not enough of them.

His Spurs connections mean fans are unlikely to be so forgiving. Pochettino is already on the clock.

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