Chelsea: Possession means nothing if the Blues can’t create chances
Chelsea’s domination in possession hides the Blues’ inability to break down opposition, create scoring chances and ultimately find the back of the net.
Chelsea is one of the Premier League leaders in possession, but it’s useless possession. The Blues possess the ball in midfield and seemingly can’t do anything with it but pass back or pass sideways. Scoring chances are few and far between; while they pad the possession statistics, the possession is mostly meaningless as nothing usually eventuates from it. The Blues can’t or just aren’t creating enough scoring chances and they aren’t netting nearly enough goals.
In addition to minimal defensive contributions, Jorginho in central midfield is a master of passing usually anywhere but forward. This leaves Chelsea’s forwards with little ability to drive toward the goal and create big chances. Once again, against a relegated Norwich, Chelsea looked lackluster and anything but a dominant top-of-the-table team who should manhandle a team with absolutely nothing to play for.
Absent Olivier Giroud’s breakthrough—that should have been a brace or maybe even three—Chelsea was lackluster again. Just plain blah. Frank Lampard will have little hair left by the end of this campaign as he’ll be pulling it all out after exhibitions like this against Norwich. If any observers thought the Blues didn’t need additions in the attack, they should now be convinced.
It is crystal clear that an enabler like Kai Havertz is exactly what this team needs in midfield to accompany Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner, Christian Pulisic and Giroud. Hopefully, that addition is made shortly, and then Chelsea can turn its attention to its bland and uninspiring defense.
The midfield three without N’Golo Kante is also discombobulated. It lacks brilliance and seems merely an agglomeration of middling players. Mason Mount may have that potential, we’ll see, but the midfield three fielded on Tuesday was just plain average.
Next. Chelsea played the FFP game alone, so time to break football again. dark
Chelsea fans can’t help but hope for a quick end to this painful season of mediocrity with hopefully a top-four finish, despite it. If so, credit goes to Lampard. He can’t play in midfield for Chelsea—although he’d certainly have liked to have played a few times this season. Yet, if they indeed secure a Champions League spot, it will be Lampard who somehow willed them to it, along with huge does of talents like the Giroud’s, Pulisic’s and Willian’s.