Chelsea has struggled this season because they cannot fight back
By Travis Tyler
The difference between champions and everyone else is often fighting back to earn points. Chelsea have lost that ability this season compared to last.
Last season, Chelsea would fight for every second of the match and would snatch points away at the death. This season, Manchester City have often done the same. The difference between a team challenging for the title and also-rans is often how often they fight back for points.
That has been absent from Chelsea this season. They simply have not shown the same fight as last season. That, more than anything, is why they are now on the outside of top four looking in.
The only real similarity of results come at the lower end. Chelsea have lost nearly the same amount of games this season as last regardless of whether they ever had the lead or not. Keep in mind, the Blues have already played three less games this season than all of last. Another two and a half months remain for the current campaign.
Draws have also remained mostly the same barring one particular type of draw. Last season, Chelsea had no 0-0 draws. This season they have had five. Four of those came after December.
With roughly the same amount of games played now as all of last season (44 to 47) but the big drop off has been in the win column. Especially when it comes to coming from behind or retaking the lead.
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When it comes to winning while always having the lead, Chelsea are at 19 wins this season to 24 last season. Again, plenty of this season left to play but that is a sharp drop off. Coming from behind is roughly the same with only two less wins.
The big drop off has been with the opponent equalizing. Last year, Chelsea were able to claw the lead back eight times after the opponent drew level. This year, it has only happened twice.
This change in record can hint at a few things. The first is that the squad is simply less equipped to fight back through adversity. Many “veterans” of the club have been replaced with younger versions of themselves. And while that helps with longevity, the short term trade off is often less fight.
Another possible reason could be Antonio Conte. Last season, he rarely hesitated to bring a player on a change formation to win the match. The 3-4-3 often morphed into a 3-5-2, 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 to win the match by any means necessary. He has only recently started doing the same by making the 3-4-3 into a 4-4-2. But during the first half of the season, such changes were absent.
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It is an issue Chelsea will need to look closer at as the season closes. Do the players have less fight or does Conte have less ideas? Do the two possible reasons feed into each other? Only time will tell if Chelsea can get their fight back.