First of all there is a perspective to consider when you talk about ‘difficult’ times at a football club. The awful news that Christian Atsu was lost in the Turkish earthquake underlines where the real importance in life lies, and we all mourn for him and consider his family at this time.

There was also that period just after Cesar Azpilicueta was injured that showed things can change in an instant for any player. Happily, he seems to have made a great recovery, but those were worrying moments for everyone.

You will then understand why I don’t go all tabloid or indeed social media mad by talking about ‘disasters’ when considering our recent run of results. Having said that, no one is trying to suggest it is not a concern. The big topics are why don’t we score many goals and how far are we away from turning the corner.

There is no precise scientific answer to the above of course and every view in football, from the best coaches to the newest fan, has its own validity, but it is bordering on baffling that the problem of scoring enough goals is proving so stubborn to shift. Certainly over the past few games, a good few guilt-edged chances have been created but the ball stubbornly refuses to go into that opposition net.

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Joao Felix hitting the crossbar in Dortmund, a few extraordinary wonder saves by their goalkeeper and the obligatory clearance or two off the line has been the recurring story. Seconds before Dortmund scored their goal, we should have scored with Kai Havertz just failing to connect correctly with his header right in front of the goal.

On top of that, anyone who plays against us right now seems to have a defender who makes a great goal-stopping save. West Ham pushed it even further by the defender using his hands and not getting penalised, even though VAR had a look. Unfathomable.

Raheem Sterling still probably doesn’t know how he didn’t notch against Southampton, but world-class defending on the goal line did for him too. It is beginning to feel like the nightmare you can’t wake up from, when the laws of nature work against you.

I have just had a flashback to the Fulham home game, Kai hitting the crossbar when it could just as easily have dropped in, and yet again phenomenal last-ditch defending on the line near the end by Tim Ream when Davide Fofana could have won it for us after beating the keeper in the last minute. Those once-in-a-season clearances are happening against us in every game at the moment.

That is not to say we haven’t had a few hairy moments at the back ourselves, with great defending needed and top-class goalkeeping by Kepa keeping it tight, but it does seem the team really isn’t far away. After a while patience begins to fade understandably in the stands, everyone in the game gets this and accepts it as every fan’s right to get frustrated.

I look back and recall how many people, including vast swaths of the Arsenal fanbase, had lost patience with Mikel Arteta during his early period in charge. Like every manager he underlined that it was a process and it would take a while. He got a bit more time and since then, he hasn’t done too badly to be fair, after his win in the 2020 FA Cup final against us had papered over an eighth-place finish behind the likes of Wolves.

Maybe even more dramatic than that was the stick Pep Guardiola was getting during his early days in charge at Manchester City, especially every time they lost a goal while playing out from the back. It is amazing how a few of the people who were hammering his tactics in the end seemed to have forgotten those opinions.

Even with Mikel and Pep, nobody ‘knew’ they were going to turn it around but it took some bravery and some belief to stick by those guys in the face of the negativity. In our favour is the fact that it is only one thing that needs to be sorted, even if it is the most important thing in the game. We are creating more and better chances and are controlling games, so it is really ‘just’ that final product and it is so close, especially when you think of the golden opportunities squandered and thwarted in the last four games.

The final argument that scoring seems to be the only big thing left to sort out is the goals against column, which is still eye-catching. We are currently sitting in 10th position in the league but only Newcastle United have shipped fewer goals than us. Losing a goal per game on average over a season will get you a top-four place in just about any season in the Premier Leagues history, usually top two!

Even those who seem keenest to see Chelsea fail are grudgingly admitting there has been some very good play for periods lately, if not for entire matches, but the problem is of course it has to be turned into wins and the next chance is at the weekend with the visit to Spurs.

Our rivals from north London have been on a fairly decent run but they haven’t always been spectacular of late. I was over at the San Siro watching them against AC Milan and they were…okay, nothing more than that against their once mighty opponents. Like us in Dortmund, they lost 1-0, but are confident that with a fair wind, also like us, they will be able to overturn it in the replay.

They do have Harry Kane up front, as well as Son, Richarlison and Kulusevski, but they are stretched at the back in comparison. It is a big ask but I can’t see us going there and being anything other than ultra-positive in our approach. All I want now is for their keeper not to have a worldie, the defenders not to have a bunch of once-in-a-lifetime incredible goal-line clearances, the woodwork to get out of the way of our strikes and for our luck to turn. That isn’t much to ask, is it? There is very little that can cheer up Chelsea fans more than a win at Spurs.