Scolari was increasingly criticised for his apparent lack of a 'Plan B’ and Chelsea were comprehensively beaten 3-1 by Roma in the away leg of the Champions’ League group stage. They were then held to a scrappy 1-1 draw in Bordeaux before struggling to a 2-1 win over CFR Cluj, and finished second in the group behind Roma, a result which left them in danger of drawing a top-seeded team in the first knock-out round.
November also saw an early exit from the Carling Cup with a defeat on penalties to Championship side Burnley, and while Chelsea were still top of the Premier League, their form was deteriorating fast.
A 0-0 draw with Newcastle and a 3-0 win at West Bromwich Albion hardly stopped the rot, and the 2-1 home defeat by Arsenal added weight to the speculation that Scolari had to find a new winning way or it would be the highway for him. More disappointment was to follow with draws becoming a fixture on the results table, 1-1 with West Ham followed by 0-0 at Everton and a 2-2 thriller at Fulham, interspersed with 2-0 wins over Bolton and West Bromwich Albion, the league's bottom side.
Performances, which had at the start of the season been incandescent, lost their lustre and coupled with the problem of both short and long term injuries to key players, Chelsea were left to watch as Man United edged further away at the top of the league. The New Year, with all the transfer window possibilities it could bring, could not come soon enough at Stamford Bridge
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