Chelsea: Five things learned about players and tactics in loss to Liverpool

Liverpool inflicted Chelsea their first home loss in the Premier League, 2-1. Despite an outstanding second half, Chelsea was unable to turn it fully around at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues succumbed to defeat at the hands of Liverpool, the sixth of six opponents who have met that fate this season. Here are five things learned from the match.

1. Chelsea’s defense still needs a lot of work

From the preseason it was evident Frank Lampard’s Chelsea has a lot of work to do in the defense. Despite playing eight matches in all competitions, they are yet to keep a clean sheet. They clearly lack a leader in the center back role. The current young center backs are yet to show such a character. The club very much need someone like Antonio Rudiger who is vocal and can command the back.

It was luck of such character that allowed Liverpool to score both goals. For the first goal, in not reacting quicker to their training ground free kick routine. For the second, giving free space to Roberto Firmino in the six-yard box.

Against Liverpool, despite substitutes forced by injuries, the back four did well. Both goals were conceded from set pieces. Liverpool’s dangerous front three did not cause many issues to the Blues, even with Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso were constantly going forward. But the set piece coverage, organization and execution is a dangerous liability.

2. Zonal marking needs to go

One of Chelsea’s strengths was always in the way they defended corners and set pieces. But nowadays they are more likely to concede from a set piece than not. Most of the set piece goals the Blues have conceded in the past few seasons show the problems with zonal marking.

Most of the time, the defense keeps a straight line in the six-yard box and the attackers position themselves at the edge of the 18-yard box. By the time the ball arrives the height commanded by the standing defenders will be much less than that attained by opposition attackers who come in running. Due to the momentum of their runs, they can take advantageous positions compared to Chelsea’s defenders if the service is good.

Those advantages would be nullified if Chelsea employed man-marking. Attackers will not be free, and thus they will have less space to jump or move. How many goals should Chelsea concede before realizing maybe zonal marking is not the way forward?

3. Kepa Arrizabalaga and diving

Kepa Arrizabalga is the world’s costliest goalkeeper. So far he has produced many brilliant saves for Chelsea. Among his many positives, there are a few things he still needs to improve.

One of the few drawbacks is his lack of diving in some situations. He has allowed far too many goals while standing still.

It’s understandable there can be goals were goalkeepers are absolutely helpless. But there have been a few goals where he just stands still. A goalkeeper of his quality should do better in dealing attempts like Roberto Firmino’s than standing rooted to the spot. Its feel like he fears people could laugh at him or mock him if the balls goes in despite a diving effort.

If he wants to be the best, he should react much more and much faster.

4. Players showing their worth

There has been a lot of criticism on Marcos Alonso and Cesar Azpilicueta in the recent past. But against Liverpool, both of them contributed a lot in attack despite Liverpool having two of the most attacking-minded full-backs. They also dealt with the Reds’ much faster attackers in Sadio Sane and Mohamed Salah.

Willian was also good and had his moments. But being the most senior attacking player, he needs to have more end product. Often, by the time he was ready to make a pass after taking one too many touches, Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham were already in offside positions.

5. Chelsea has won only just two matches

After everything is said and done, despite all the positives throughout the season so far, Chelsea have won only twice. They are yet to win at home. They stay in the bottom half. The Blues also lost their first home match in the Champions League group stage.

Frank Lampard and his team just can’t rely on the positives for so long. It’s the points that ultimately matter. Fans may find comfort in Manchester United and Tottenham also failing to win this weekend, but that’s not going to help Chelsea in the long run.

Lampard’s boys need to get points. They need to keep clean sheets. Without them, it will be difficult to achieve the minimum target a club like Chelsea should have.