If only this was a one-off. If only Chelsea hadn't capitulated previously under Thomas Tuchel. If only the issues highlighted at Elland Road by an exuberant and indefatigable Leeds United weren't done so by West Bromwich Albion in 2021 and Brentford earlier this year.
The result will be framed as a shock, an unexpected early-season blow. Those who have followed Chelsea a little closer in recent years know better. Such a performance, warts and all, can never be entirely ruled out by supporters come matchday. And that is a problem.
Not that Tuchel wanted to question the overarching mentality of his squad after this afternoon's 3-0 defeat. Instead, he focused on the errors made by his players. "I don't think it is the mentality," he said when asked by football.london, "when Edou (Mendy) doesn't take the right decision.
READ MORE Every word Thomas Tuchel said on Leeds vs Chelsea, Mendy, Koulibaly, Gallagher, signings, more
"I think it is mentality in [how we defend] set pieces at the moment. But not the big mentality as a headline, please. The mentality in set-pieces is not good enough, but mentality comes down to discipline and doing what we should do and what makes us strong in the first 15 or 20 minutes.
"It was enough to kill the game and bring it into a direction where it was last season. If they scored the opening chance and did what they did, a win is possible. Maybe you don't believe me, and I don't see a connection that we have a huge mentality problem and that we are not ready for what's coming."
As Tuchel highlighted, Chelsea started well. Raheem Sterling missed a great opportunity inside a minute, and Mason Mount also went close with a low effort that Illan Meslier saved. But once Mendy was robbed of the ball inside his own penalty box, and Brenden Aaronson put Leeds ahead, there would only ever be one winner.
There were four minutes between Leeds' first and second goals. There was little reaction from Chelsea's players in that period. It was only after Rodrigo's header found the far corner that reality seemed to set in. There was a heated exchange between Thiago Silva and Reece James, and Tuchel was a frustrated figure as he took his seat in the dugout.
The German did try to shake things up and switched to a 4-2-2-2 system at the start of the second half. It was a change that helped Conor Gallagher, who had started as a number six, and he went close with a low deflected effort. James also forced Meslier into action with a strike from outside of the penalty area.
There was little from Chelsea's attacking players; far too often in recent months, that has been the painful story. Kai Havertz was anonymous once again. Sterling and Mount couldn't add to their attempts from the first half. Tuchel even went all out with the introductions of Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic, but still, the Leeds goal wasn't overly threatened.
What the double change resulted in was Chelsea losing all structure. Ziyech and Pulisic were playing almost as number eights ahead of Ruben Loftus-Cheek. It was a mess, a desperate scatter-gun approach that didn't pay off as Jack Harrison was able to add Leeds' third and condemn the Blues to a painful defeat, which was made worse when Kalidou Koulibaly was sent off late on.
What's the solution? Is there a quick fix? Perhaps not, but the transfer window is still open, although Tuchel insists that shouldn't be the focus in the days ahead.
"We need to focus on what we have and what we can do," he said. "We can obviously play at a high level, but we lost track when there was no need. We were not forced to lose track. Everything was going well. We can win with this team in Leeds. It went the other way, and I think it was more our fault than anyone else's credit."
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