Chelsea: Attack is shored up but defense still needed

Chelsea Football Club has added truly outstanding attacking talent to the squad and may add more but it ignores central defense at its peril.

Chelsea has made terrific additions to its attack in Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner already. They may also add the inimitable Kai Havertz but they will reap the consequences if they fail to reinforce a leaky central defense. There is no doubt, a strong attack is a key to winning any football match. If they sign Havertz in addition to Ziyech and Werner, adding them to their already substantial attacking talent, Chelsea will be formidable in the attack in 2020/21. Of that, there is no doubt whatsoever. Maybe even formidable enough to equal Europe’s best.

That fact should certainly bring comfort and even more than that, excitement, to the massive, worldwide growing Blues’ fandom. Fans love goals but it nevertheless remains an important consideration for the club to rectify a sieve-like defense that allowed a mid-table level of goals last season. That will not be not be nearly good enough even with a dramatically improved attack, to bring Chelsea level with such powerhouses as Liverpool and Manchester City.

To date, the Blues have brought in a tremendous talent in Xavier Mbuyamba. This tall central defender has through-the-roof potential in the future. But it is questionable if he will even be with the first-team next season. Likely, he will not be. So Chelsea still has a lot of work to do to improve at the position before the whistle blows to start the new campaign against Brighton (and Lewis Dunk). Rumors abound, but where are the results? Declan Rice, Lewis Dunk, Thiago Silva, Jose Jimenez, and more. Names are floated, it’s a Chelsea staple, but unless the deals are made, they’re still just rumors.

Absent a significant, if not major, infusion of central defensive talent in this transfer window (along with a new and better goalkeeper, thank you very much), Chelsea will still be on the short side of games against top competitors who do have that talent on the back line and at the keeper. These clubs (Liverpool, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Real Madrid, etc.) can match even the reconstituted (and highly impressive) Blues attack, and still stymie them at the back line with a better, more solidified, and stauncher central defense and keeper. There’s no getting away from this central tenet if two clubs are equal or relatively equal in the attack, the team that is better in defense and keeper will win.

At present, the Blues are significantly weaker in central defense and much weaker in keeper than their opponents in the Premier League and in the Champions League next season (which begins unmercifully shortly). Much has yet to be done.

At this point, here’s what it needs to be. First, Chelsea should swoop in after the Champions League final and sign Thiago Silva of Paris Saint Germain on a free transfer. That’s the easy one. It’s a no-brainer. Then, they have to just get the big deal done and acquire the key player, not only the central defender, who can make their season in 2020/21 a success. That player is Declan Rice.

Manager Frank Lampard sees the 21-year-old as a central defender. He has what it takes to be just that. He has adequate, though not imposing height. He has the strength and grit to dominate opponents. He is a leader. He fits there. In addition, and this is a big addition, he can slot in for the inimitable N’Golo Kante to provide him the rest he will need as he approaches 30 years old and needs time off. This attribute, major versatility in a young player, has value and significance that cannot be in any way be underestimated. In a word it’s invaluable.

Chelsea has made a terrific start in the attack on the current transfer window. But it’s not enough. Two windows out of the market necessitate major acquisitions to augment the terrific use of academy players that Lampard has effectuated. It is now time to “break the bank”, so to speak at Chelsea Football Club. This is the window. Not last January, not next January, but now.

The next moves (or alternatively non-moves) by the Blues could very well determine the club’s fortunes for the next half or even full decade. Now is the time to move ahead. The great results will definitely follow.