Chelsea three lessons learnt: Chickens coming to roost

The Blues had a great first half undone by ghosts of the past in the second. What lessons can Chelsea learn from the end of their League Cup campaign?

The first half went very well for Chelsea. It was boring and comfortable which is what the club really needed at this moment in the season. Then old demons showed themselves in the second half and suddenly it was 1-1. It went to penalties and unfortunately the Blues lost that lottery. What lessons can be learned from this one?

1. Lack of killer instinct and a foot off the gas remain big issues

When Jose Mourinho was still a Chelsea manager and not on his great revenge tour, he often bemoaned the lack of killer instinct from the club. The team would go ahead in a match and then inexplicably phone it in. The chances would be created, but the finishing was lackadaisical at best.

A few years later and Antonio Conte fretted over the game management of his players. They would be winning or maybe even drawing and whatever press they had or runs in behind they were attempting would stop. The Blues would take their foot off the gas when not behind, giving their opponent an opening to get back into the match.

Both of these issues are not new at Chelsea. One has lingered since 2015, the other since 2018. Both were on showcase against Tottenham. The Blues came out for the second half with no intensity. They still created chances but the final pass or final shot was gone. It was treated like a training exercise and Tottenham capitalized on the hesitation of the Blues.

Frank Lampard is merely the latest Chelsea manager to have to deal with this problem. Like the others, he may pay for it if he cannot hold it off for long. It is not the manager’s fault that this is the culture of the club right now, but unfortunately, he is the one that has to fix it or face the consequences. Everyone knows the players won’t.

2. It may just be the League Cup, but it mattered to them

After the West Brom draw, it was good to see no celebrations by the Blues at the final whistle. Every single player and the manager left the field looking furious at themselves rather than elated for the point. That is a good sign of where the club is, despite the killer instinct and foot off the gas issues already mentioned.

When Mason Mount missed his penalty, every single Chelsea player and the manager went to him to tell him it was okay. Mount had the 1000 yard stare but kept it together otherwise. It was clear he, and the team, was bothered by the loss but they were just that: a team.

It is not fun to be out of any competition. The squad knows that. They are hungrier for silverware than any fan is. But if there was any silver lining for the moment, it was that they are a team that came together to support the player that needed it the most. That is why Lampard got so furious at Marcos Alonso leaving the stadium over the weekend. The mood is in the right direction, even if the results are not.

3. Tinkering needed, but the players have to show up for 90

It has not been the best of starts to the season, especially with so much backing in the market. Yes, few of those players have been able to feature and the Blues barely had a preseason, but that is not an excuse for maybe 135 minutes of football (spread over three matches) that befits the club. The 4-2-3-1 is seemingly being used to compensate for the lack of a defensive midfielder, but it is not working to shield the backline any more than a 4-3-3 without a defensive midfielder did.

That being said, it is not all an issue on Lampard’s end. Simply put, the players need to do their jobs. It may be preseason fitness wise, but these results are real. Timo Werner crafts tons of great chances but has one goal to his name. Mason Mount and Callum Hudson-Odoi both messed up what should have been easy goals when the score was 1-0. Worse, Emerson was barely even a factor in the equalizer that directly forced the penalties.

Lampard can make all the adjustments in the word but they won’t matter if the players aren’t doing their side of things. The killer instinct and the foot off the gas need to be addressed by everyone. At the very least, the culture seems to be in a place that will allow that to happen. The only question is when?

What lessons did you learn from this match? Let us know in the comments and on Twitter!