Following Chelsea’s disappointing 2-1 loss to Liverpool, here are some quick thoughts on the Blues’ performance. It was one all too familiar.
Captain Ivanovic
Branislav Ivanovic’s record as Chelsea captain is pretty dismal. He has only led the team to one win and two draws, with losses to PSG (home and away), Everton, Swansea and now Liverpool since last season. He is a poor defender and an even worse leader.
Gary Cahill’s weak clearance that led to Jordan Henderson’s goal summed up a poor week. His distribution on Friday was really terrible. He has been Chelsea’s weakest link in defence, and the fact that he has to work with Ivanovic down the right makes things even worse.
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Willian’s woes
Willian’s set-piece deliveries have been terrible, yet he keeps taking charge of dead ball situations. Also, his inability to cut inside to his left-foot makes him as predictable as one-leg Nemanja Matic. He doesn’t get into the box enough to support Diego Costa, either.
It may be the case that his mother’s illness is currently affecting his performance levels. Or it could just be fatigue from a long year or so. Whatever the case, the Willian of early last season has totally disappeared.
Conte’s stagnation
Antonio Conte’s unwillingness to make early changes shows an inability to influence games from the bench. His substitutions in the last two games have bordered on ridiculous! With Chelsea 2-1 down against Swansea, he brought in Cesc Fabregas and Victor Moses, pushing Oscar upfront (who went on to miss 2 very presentable chances) before bringing Michy Batshuayi in with 2 minutes to play. And last night, he made a triple substitution after 83 mins with Chelsea being 2-1 down, but no Batshuayi!
Costa dependency
Costa has scored five goals from open play in the Premier League so far. No other Blues player has scored more than one. Costa (5), Batshuayi (3) and Moses (2) are the only players to score more than one goal from open play so far this season in competitive football.
Batshuayi and Moses have started only one game each while Costa has played more minutes than both combined. Chelsea are becoming too dependent on Costa for goals. He was way too isolated against Swansea and Liverpool and only scored when more players went up to support him.
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Final thoughts
Chelsea’s poor defensive options have made things difficult for Conte, but his inability to effectively utilise his quality attacking options have made any excuses not acceptable. When you have a weak defence, force the opposition to defend. Barcelona, Man City and even Liverpool are showing how it is done.
He needs to find a way to get his team dominating games from the front, at least until he can secure the defensive talent he desperately requires.
What are your thoughts? Share them in the comments below!