Chelsea haven’t deserved their unbeaten record for as long as they have. When they showed up at Wembley with the sort of attitude this bunch always seem to emit too early, a superior Tottenham team exposed them.
The Blues didn’t even look poor against Tottenham. For a card-carrying Chelsea supporter like myself, this is one of the most embarrassing performances I’ve been forced to sit through in a long time. The problem wasn’t losing to a lowly opposition or being as heinously poor as they were. No, they showed exactly the character flaws that I spend perhaps an unhealthy and ridiculous amount of my time pretending they don’t.
They were entirely lacking in spine, spirit, resolve, creativity and spark. The team had none of the defensive cohesiveness they seem to show against teams beneath them, and none of the power and pace going forward I was taught to believe was the purpose of signing Maurizio Sarri in the first place.
This, though, does not mean it is time to overreact, as so many have been doing on Twitter. The loss embarassingly shows that, though Chelsea pulled the sheet over the eyes of many with that easily recitable now-broken record, they’re still mostly the troubling team we’ve been talking about for years. They put up great numbers and results during the games that they should, and then fail when the going gets tough.
The good news is Maurizio Sarri knows that. He said as much when he highlighted how the team reverted to long balls when struggling in previous matches.
What becomes interesting, then, is seeing how the team adapts to this. It’s ridiculous that when Jorginho is man-marked there’s apparently no other option for creative play. Literally, not one?
We’ve all become broken records on this subject, but how can David Luiz be tolerated when he does things like this? He’s calm and controlled and wonderful when things are easy. But as soon as a little pressure is applied he seems to lose his mind.
Luiz’s juvenile state is almost adorable, like when he entirely forgets the point of being a defender.
Children learn from an early age how defenders provide a platform upon which the rest of the team can build going forward. They exude a sense of calm bravery and character from which the rest of the players can sense a purpose and draw energy.
They do not go gallivanting about like a drunken schoolboy in some ill thought-out pursuit of a coed’s affections. They do not recklessly foul a player within a meter of the goal box, shirk basic aerial duties understood by pub-players and then simply miss tackles by so much, so clumsily, that tripping Milan runway models would suddenly look as graceful as a Soviet figure skater.
David Luiz was in line for a contract extension due to his play this season, and that upset me. He has been good this year – why deny him that? But to forget that this is the sort of player he is, that in important games he is as likely to go missing as be accountable, would be a failure, too.
At the must fundamental levels, David Luiz is a good defender on his day and one of the worst in the world on others. Paying him £100,000 a week while trying to pursue trophies is an insult to many in the game. A contract extension would be absurd. He has a wonderful personality and his teammates apparently love Babbo, but when winning is the aim he cannot be part of the plan.
Throughout the game against Tottenham he left Antonio Rudiger on his own. We stand a good chance of ruining the marvelous potential of the nearly-perfect German by partnering him with Luiz. Rudiger’s mentality will be so riddled with PLSD (Post-Luiz Stress Disorder) by the time this theoretical new extension is up, the Blues will lose two defenders instead of one.
The future is Antonio Rudiger and Ethan Ampadu. Perhaps Luiz has made up for his lack of dutiful defending by illuminating his reality to those blind few at the top of Chelsea’s recruitment pile.
Among the more regrettable but forgivable performances at Wembley was the young king, Kepa Arrizabalaga. He will have better games than this, his worst in a Chelsea shirt by far.
He simply should have saved the first goal, and then he misjudged the parameters of his goal for the second. If it is close, make the save and concede the corner. That’s the foolproof rule. He failed that, likely from youthful overconfidence having become the best goalkeeper in the Premier League this season at age 23. Forgive him.
The young king will make mistakes, but his path could still not been any brighter than it is.
Finally, Chelsea need a striker. This is now beyond ridiculous. I still hope against all signs to the contrary Alvaro Morata might come good. Olivier Giroud represented himself well on Saturday, but there’s too much for Eden Hazard to do. The side have no other options and rely on him too much, leaving bloodied and bruised after every game.
Chelsea should save Gonzalo Higuain from his sad loan in Milan. He is said to hate it and wants a reunion with Maurizio Sarri. Why not pay to free him and take him on an 18-24 month loan?
That will ensure Morata has the proper amount of playing time given Higuain’s age, but the club will also have a player who understands the system and prospered in it. The Argentine possesses all the necessary professional gravitas to add some verve to Chelsea and extra bite to aid Hazard.
Chelsea carry too little threat and too little professionalism into every match. It is embarrassing to see a club so proud of itself yet so empty on the back end. Flat track bullies? Nobody wants to be that. Yet that appears to be who this team have become in the past five years.
The good news is Sarri recognizes this and seems as ill-contented as me. Give him credit for that. We can only hope the board – maybe just this once – will actually make decisions to aid him rather than comically work against him moving forward.
Chelsea were poor against Tottenham, but the football was not the most embarassing part. That dishonor falls to how thoroughly they proved right the doubters and the anti-Chelsea mob outside the gates.
Monday is here. Time to build again.