Chelsea’s defence remains the weak link in their title and trophy ambitions

The biggest difference between Chelsea’s title-winning year and their title-defending year is the failing of the defence.

Chelsea’s defence last season were heroic. This season they have been paleozoic.  Some people think otherwise, but then again some people think the world is flat and the sun is not the center of our universe, so take those people’s opinions with a grain of salt.

It has been interesting watching Chelsea’s defence this season because it is hard to tell what is going wrong. Last season Chelsea built a fantastic run of form and a genuinely surprising title triumph on the back of the incredible job the defence were doing.

Last season, many people – this writer included – thought the addition of David Luiz was essentially a title concession and that the club made nowhere near enough progress during the summer to get the club back to the top four, let alone become champions. Then the 3-4-3 and the streak happened. Gary Cahill, David Luiz and Cesar Azpilicueta all somehow banded together to make the third-best defence in the league (Tottenham and Manchester United).

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Luiz seemingly matured a full five years in a single season. He forgot all of the idiotic attributes that have dogged him throughout his career. Gary Cahill exemplified English defensive play. Though technically limited, he read the game well and played simply. He was strong, efficient and ever reliable. Cesar Azpilicueta made up for his lack of height with guile and genius. He made interceptions and moved forward with aplomb marshaling the entire right side of the field.

Then this season happened and the dream ended. They have all been shells of their better selves from last season.

David Luiz has all the skills to be a top-five defender in the world. His not reaching that peak is a tragedy and people should not accept it. Since when has a failure to realize one’s potential for greatness been acceptable?

Luiz’s fans betray him by accepting it. He’s so charismatic, they love him, he’s sweet, he’s funny. Those characteristics are all well and good but they have nothing to do with football and people confuse the facts. Luiz is an immensely likable bloke and a waste of a central defender.

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That  David Luiz has returned.  Even I was convinced that he had truly banished his demons. Yet here they are. He relapsed into the same unbelievably impulsive and ridiculous defender he was. David Luiz is a tragedy of missed opportunity and unrealized potential. He was blessed with every single natural skill necessary to become a great footballer… and apparently none of the mental ones.

Gary Cahill seems to have forgotten what made him great. Since assuming the armband he looks like a man who is burdened by it. He is half the player he was when he was earning the damn thing. He is too pensive and slow. He makes silly mistakes and tries to overdo things.

Gary Cahill’s best attribute was that he never played too far outside himself. Now he seems to be stuck within.

Gary Cahill is not the most talented defender in the world. He is not particularly fast, nor technically efficient. But he mastered the simple arts of defending: marking, organization, determination, consistency. Those are enough characteristics to build with. Andrea Barzagli of Juventus is the same. Cahill seems to have forgotten those this season. Without those, he is just not a player a top level team can get by with.

Cesar Azpilicueta is having an off moment.  Perhaps it is just that he is not meant to be center-back. He is a man who has made a career of playing out of position, and now finally he appears to feel that way himself.

Antonio Rudiger is so rough around the edges that it can at times be hard to watch. He often loses his man on corners and is rough in the tackle, even for the Premier League. It is important to send a strong physical message but Rudiger often just appears careless and unaware of where his body is.

The last of the five worth naming is, of course, Andreas Christensen. The difference here is that Christensen is young. His faults tend to be that he is just a little weak for the position still, or has been overwhelmed in big matches (Roma). The fact that he already has better passing judgement than Luiz by a country mile is a sad state of things.

Christensen will be improving and so his mistakes are at least manageable.  He has not really even played enough to be blamed whole-heartedly for this situation.

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The others though, are in their primes, and it is just sad. Defenders need to be consistent. It is the one thing above all else they must be. The rest of the team fully counts on them. Attackers need to feel confident in taking risks, knowing their defence will back them up properly.

Chelsea’s defence has been letting the rest of the side down this season and it has not even been close. Dismissing it or even saying “they haven’t been that bad” is a travesty in and of itself. The point of competition is to be the best, and this lot this season have been absurd.

Thinking that Chelsea’s defence has been even remotely acceptable is absurd. They achieved fantastic things last year. Last year they were phenomena. This year less so.  They deserved some time to figure it out, but it has just not been good enough.

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Get Kurt Zouma back. Zouma, Christensen and Jake Clarke-Salter should be the future because Chelsea have none with this lot.