Chelsea’s horrific second-half performance saw the Blues slump to a 3-1 defeat to Flamengo, who extended the streak of South American teams remaining unbeaten in the Club World Cup.

Malo Gusto is the focus of this article after a very poor defensive display, which now raises the question: after the Flamengo match, is his time at the club coming to an end?

The Frenchman arrived at Stamford Bridge the summer after Chelsea signed him in January 2023, bringing plenty of hype and hope from fans.

It seemed as though the club had finally secured a reliable backup for Reece James.

But now, Gusto has gone from being a contender for Chelsea’s Player of the Season in his debut campaign to enduring a difficult second year, and his weaknesses were brutally exposed once again against Flamengo’s intense, high-energy side.

In attack, Gusto offered practically nothing, attempting just a single cross that failed to find its mark.

But it’s defensively where frustrations have been mounting among Chelsea supporters.

On this occasion, he played a direct role in two of Flamengo’s goals, both coming from alarmingly poor defending at the back post.

Gonzalo Plata and Bruno Henrique were left with free headers, largely due to Gusto’s lazy positioning and failure to mark his man.

It became a recurring issue throughout the second half, and Chelsea were fortunate Flamengo didn’t punish them with even more goals through similar mistakes.

Enzo Maresca’s system has fundamentally changed the way Gusto is expected to play compared to last season under Mauricio Pochettino.

But after a full campaign working under the Italian coach, it’s clear that he struggles to fit into Maresca’s tactical setup.

That said, Maresca should take some of the blame here.

He made a number of puzzling decisions during the match, including taking off Delap after a bright debut performance and once again overlooking Andrey Santos for any minutes of game time.

However, perhaps the most questionable decision was persisting with Gusto at right back, especially when it’s now actively costing Chelsea results.

With Reece James available and even the option of Moises Caicedo in that role, it’s difficult to justify Gusto’s continued selection.

Was starting him today a message to the Chelsea board about the urgent need for reinforcements in the transfer market?

If so, it felt like the wrong moment to make that point, particularly with other viable options available in one of the club’s biggest matches of the season.