Chelsea four lessons learnt against Rennes: Depth, balance

2. The importance of the midfield balance

The Chelsea team that played against Rennes on Tuesday, despite an initial strong start, gradually lost control of the game as the match progressed. In a match which at times resembled a throwback to Chelsea’s earlier games in the season, a midfield duo of Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho just cannot seem to achieve the right balance required to take control of the midfield.

Be it Jorginho’s lack of creativity or Kovacic’s occasional sloppiness when on the ball, Chelsea’s midfield struggled both in offence and defensive against Rennes and this reflected poorly on the possession front, with Lampard’s possession-centric side ultimately coming in with just 49 percent of the ball.

Lampard’s decision midway through the second half to adopt a more defensive midfield structure by replacing Mason Mount with N’Golo Kante only exacerbated Chelsea’s problems in progressing the ball into the offensive third of the pitch. It was a decision which almost cost Chelsea the win in the end when Serhou Guirassy equalized late on and highlights just how important the midfield balance is in achieving a cohesiveness within the Chelsea team on the pitch.

3. Olivier Giroud and his big beautiful French forehead

Giroud’s late winner against Rennes was the Frenchman’s 30th for the club since his arrival in the January window back in 2018. Constantly struggling for a consistent starting role first under Antonio Conte then under Maurizio Sarri and now under Frank Lampard, it takes a special kind of guy with extraordinary mental fortitude and character to still have the kind of impact that Giroud has had at the club.

Tuesday’s runout was just Giroud’s seventh appearance for Chelsea this season and for a man who has once again had speculation surrounding him with regards to his future at the club, the Frenchman more than put in a shift against Rennes. Strong in the air and world-class at bringing his teammates into the game, Giroud barely showed any signs of rustiness for a 34-year-old who has spent more time on the bench than on the pitch. In this sense, Giroud’s 91st-minute goal was no more than what he deserved for the effort he puts into his training off the pitch and his performances on it.

With the season so packed in for the next three months, injuries or suspensions would more likely than not leave small windows of opportunity for Giroud to once again stake his claim as Chelsea’s starting striker. The bottom line here is that even at 34, Giroud still has so much more to offer and Frank Lampard would do well to keep him involved within the first-team set up as the club challenges on various fronts this season. Time will tell that it was the right thing to do.