Chelsea Tactics and Transfers: Encouraging, but so much work ahead

Chelsea didn’t deserve to lose to Liverpool on Sunday. Nevertheless, they did, and history has no place for those who should have won and didn’t.

The Blues played admirably on Sunday yet still lost the game. Was it because their best players played in the Championship last season? Was it because Liverpool were simply the better team in every facet of the match? Perhaps it was because Liverpool are the best team in the league and Chelsea aren’t even close these days?

No, to all.

Chelsea lost because of their naivety. Football is a simple game that people complicate. Perhaps it helps them explain their own failings in life or it’s so they could find some solace in thinking that a thing they cannot do is far too complicated and therefore their failures are more easily digested. I digress.

Chelsea did the hard things in the game well. They pressed with aplomb and managed to create many chances. They didn’t, though, simply mark set pieces very well or minimize space in front of players who are shooting. And Chelsea also didn’t manage to stay on-side.

If you can’t mark players, stay on side and close down shooters with bravery then there’s no need to talk about anything else.

We don’t need to talk about individual performances or patterns of play and style. There’s no need. Chelsea cannot move to the next level and play against the biggest and most successful teams, teams like Liverpool or Bayern Munich or Real Madrid, if they cannot master these basics.

The Blues had a chance to win this game. They had plenty of shots on target and created plenty of space in Liverpool’s area. Adrian had a fantastic game in keeping Chelsea out of the Liverpool goal, but Chelsea should have finished their chances.

This is a young team, and all those things they got wrong and need to improve on are forgivable. Liverpool are a fantastic side, heavy with the success they have earned over the past few years and the many scalps of other great sides they have collected. Chelsea are not a good side. They’re mediocre, at best, and though they possess great potential, that does not a championship winning team make.

Chelsea have very much to work on. They need to organize their defense. They need the older players to actually lead the team and stop being bested by the youth time and time again. They need to learn how to mark and, even more so, take it personally when they lose a battle. They need to learn to be clinical and sharp with their chances and not waste them.

There’s too much to work on for Chelsea to be considered a good side. They’re young and they will improve and Frank Lampard is the right man to do it. They just simply need to get their noses down and improve.

It was good of them to see what a proper football side and team look like on Sunday. Liverpool were far from their best but still managed to beat a top-six rival away from home. That’s what champions do.

Chelsea should learn from it and they should improve. Very much work ahead indeed.