Chelsea centerback scouting part one: What do the Blues need?

Chelsea and Frank Lampard have finally settled on a centerback pair, but with a shelf life for one, what does the club need to look for in a centerback?

Chelsea has finally found a centerback pairing that Frank Lampard is comfortable with. Kurt Zouma and Thiago Silva complement each other perfectly and the recent results back that up. After a season (2019/20) full of countless centerback pairings and different defensive problems, it is a relief that the Blues can now string a couple of clean sheets together. This would be a perfect pairing if one of the two was not 36 years old. At 36, Silva would likely get considerably less playing time in subsequent seasons as he would probably be unable to start as many games as Chelsea fans would like.

The questions follow. Who replaces Silva? What centerback should the Blues buy? What signings should Chelsea prioritize? There are no easy answers. This series will cover various potential centerbacks that Chelsea could get. The Blues needs a particular type of centerback. There are countless centerbacks that are terrific in their own right, but whether they’d be a perfect fit for Chelsea is a different matter.

The Blues are a pressing team and centerbacks would likely spend the better part of ninety minutes on the half way line. Any centerback that Chelsea is buying now would first and foremost have to be comfortable playing in a high line. This comes with some other essentials. The centerback has to be intelligent. The centerback needs to have rich spatial awareness. His reading of the game has to be superb, making interceptions when needed and making clearances when necessary.

He has to be good on the ball, Chelsea doesn’t need someone who is wasteful in position. Scratch that, no team needs a centerback who is wasteful in possession. He needs to keep the ball moving, knowing when to pass short to his fellow centerback, his nearest central midfielder, ping the ball long to a winger or try a defense splitting ball over the top to a striker (see: Jordan Henderson’s ball over the top that caused chaos for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this season).

Chelsea also seems to lack aerial presence, apart from Zouma and occasionally, Silva and Ben Chilwell (among the starters). Any defender coming in to Chelsea would also need to be good in the air. Chelsea currently ranks 12th, according to WhoScored, for aerial duels won per game in the Premier league this season, this isn’t good enough for a team that got constant goal scoring opportunities from corners. Ground duels are also to be considered too, as Silva and Zouma combine for 3.0 ground duels per game currently.

Every top club has been dreaming of getting their own “Virgil van Dijk” after Liverpool broke the then record for a centerback when they acquired the Dutch, but players like Van Dijk are not common, and clubs still have to get defenders that can be effective for them. The series will cover potential signings and the numbers that back them up, seeing what indicates whether they’d be a good fit and potential disadvantages that can come with acquiring these players.