Three lessons learnt as Chelsea thrashes Crystal Palace at home

Chelsea easily dismissed its south London rivals, ending the day with four goals to the good and a clean sheet, but what did we learn?

Chelsea took on Crystal Palace in what was ultimately a straightforward win after a strong second half performance from the home side. Sturdy at the back and solid going forward, Saturday’s win against a well-drilled and well-organised Crystal Palace side was exactly what Frank Lampard needed following a rocky start to the season. Here are the lessons learnt from Chelsea’s 4-0 win over the Eagles:

1. The answer to the left back conundrum

There were massive questions surrounding Lampard and Chelsea’s decision to go for Chilwell when other players regarded as better options were made available this summer. However, amidst all the discussions as to whether someone like Sergio Reguilon (£25 million) or Nicolás Tagliafico (£30 million) would prove better value-for-money, Chilwell’s performance on Saturday more than vindicated the club’s decision to drop £50 million on him. Apart from being incredibly dominant in the air, having won 100 percent of his aerial duels, the Englishman was also extremely comfortable on the ball, displaying a mix of skill and pace when linking up with the attack in Crystal Palace’s final third.

Crucially, however, was Chilwell’s performance against the wave of expectations that replacing Marcos Alonso with Chilwell would result in a massive drop-off in Chelsea’s attacking output from the left. Chilwell’s crossing and instinct inside the opposition box, which bagged him an assist and a goal, should more than assuage such fears. It may still be early days in the 23-year-old Chilwell’s Chelsea career, but if his recent performances are anything to go by, the Blues could finally have their Ashley Cole replacement after years of having questionable or make-shift left backs since the Englishman’s departure in 2014. What a debut and what a performance from Chelsea’s new No. 21.

2. A solution to Chelsea’s defensive issues?

Had Ben Chilwell not put in such a dominant display in his league debut for Chelsea, one of Kurt Zouma or Thiago Silva would surely have taken home the Man of the Match award against Crystal Palace. While it could certainly be argued that Crystal Palace’s forwards did not exactly give Chelsea’s back line the sternest of tests, the Blues’ central defenders nonetheless held their own against whatever the likes of Wilfried Zaha and Jordan Ayew threw at them. This is impressive given the former of which was quite simply unplayable the last time these two sides met.

Moreover, considering the pressure that Chelsea’s back line must have been under following a string of lackluster performances, most notably away to West Brom just a week ago, both Zouma and Silva displayed the kind of character and attitude that would prove useful in the long season ahead. Once again, it is still early in Chelsea’s season, but with the defence crying out for some form of consistency since the start of last season, perhaps Zouma and Silva could finally be the answer to Chelsea’s long-term struggles at the back.

3. Chelsea’s midfield struggles continue

While Chelsea did, in fact, create the majority of the chances and ultimately did come away with a 4-0 win, the truth was that for large parts of the first half, the Blues’ problems in midfield were once again laid bare. Having been completely overrun against West Brom last time out with a midfield combination of Kovacic, Kante and Havertz, Lampard opted for a more defensive option this time around with both Jorginho and Kante used as a duo sitting at the base of Chelsea’s midfield.

However, this meant that for large parts of the first half, Chelsea, whilst clearly more solid defensively, lost a lot of fluidity and movement in the middle of the park. The loss of Kovacic’s ball-carrying ability in midfield was felt acutely in this respect. While his introduction would certainly improve the team’s movement in the final third of Crystal Palace’s half, the departure of either Kante or Jorginho in his place would undoubtedly have left the midfield way more open than Lampard would have been comfortable with. Hence, as much as Chelsea continued to dominate the ball following the resumption of the second half, it took a series of defensive errors from Crystal Palace—who on multiple occasions failed to clear its lines—for the home side to finally open the scoring. There were elements of luck involved in all four of Chelsea’s goals and as incredulous as it may seem, it was actually possible on another day that Chelsea came away with a draw from this match.

Ultimately, with a midfield combination of Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic, Mount and Havertz, Lampard has with him a group of seriously talented individuals. The issue now has to be finding a way of striking a fine balance amongst his midfield options. On the evidence of this game, however, it is clear that Chelsea’s head coach has yet to find a solution in midfield that would offer both stability in defence and fluidity in attack. Until Chelsea can find a proper solution in midfield either through transferring in a defensive-minded midfielder in the form of Declan Rice or Thomas Partey or simply improving Kovacic’s and Jorginho’s defensive capabilities off the ball, the team would constantly be struggling to actually control a game regardless of the level of possession Chelsea has.

What are some things you took away from the match? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!