Chelsea need forwards who will create and score against the top teams
By George Perry
Chelsea had 16 different goal-scorers in the Premier League this season, with Eden Hazard and Alvaro Morata leading the way. Only four players, though, scored more than once against teams in the top-half of the table.
Antonio Conte’s tactics took plenty of criticism this season – particularly in the second-half – for being too defensive against the top teams. The tactics were only slightly more extreme against Tottenham, Manchester City and Barcelona in the spring than they were against similarly situated teams in the fall. But as the results turned, so did the perception.
Eden Hazard was the totem for much of the anti-Conte sentiment. The blame for his few opportunities against City and Barcelona, in particular, were laid at Conte’s feet rather than his own. Whether you are #TeamConte or #TeamHazard will go a long way in how you read Hazard’s scoring records against the two halves of the table.
Only one of Hazard’s team-leading 12 Premier League goals came against a top-half team: a penalty kick against Arsenal on January 3. Chelsea’s second-leading scorer, Alvaro Morata, netted four of his 11 goals against the top-half. He opened his Chelsea account against Burnley and Everton in weeks 1 and 3 of the season. He went on to score the game-winner against Manchester United in November, and the opener in the loss to Tottenham in April.
Marcos Alonso, Willian and Michy Batshuayi were the only other players with multiple goals against the top-half. Alonso scored a brace against Tottenham in matchweek 2, and the equalizer against Arsenal in January. Willian equalized against Liverpool in the November draw, and opened the scoring in the February loss to Manchester United. Batshuayi scored two off the bench in October’s romp over Watford (Watford were fourth at the time).
Of these four players, only Alonso had a multi-goal game against a top-half team. Alvaro Morata only had one multi-goal game, while Hazard had four. Morata’s was a hat-trick against Stoke (relegated). Hazard had braces against West Brom (relegated) in both fixtures and against Newcastle and Brighton.
Eleven different Blues scored single goals against top-half competition. This can be read two ways. On the one hand, it shows Chelsea did not rely too heavily on their forwards to produce in the big games. They were a well-distributed scoring threat, and used that variety to overcome man-marking against Eden Hazard.
Alternatively, it shows how Chelsea allowed the opposition to neutralize their top scorers. Or worse, how Antonio Conte neutralized his top scorers through his overly-defensive tactics. The Blues were left hoping for scraps, set pieces and luck from anyone who could put a boot on the ball, since the tactics precluded Eden Hazard from taking control of the attack.
Chelsea need more output from their best players against the top teams. The Blues should not need Eden Hazard to defeat Huddersfield any more than Barcelona should need Lionel Messi to defeat Levante. But the other side of that is both teams should be able to count on their best players to come through in the most important games against the strongest opponents. Messi craves El Clasico for precisely this reason.
The Blues shied away from those moments this season. The tactics did not set them up for a high-scoring affair, or even one with a bounty of chances. But players like Alvaro Morata, Eden Hazard and Willian should not need many opportunities to score. They need to be clinical, but more importantly they need to be ambitious. And this in no way conflicts with Antonio Conte’s defence-first tactics. The attackers need to create as well as finish their scoring chances. They cannot wait for opportunities to come to them.
This initiative was missing throughout the season, and the final breakdown of goals reflects it across the team.
Next: What Chelsea need when the transfer window opens