Chelsea: Attacking dominance is more important than individual struggles

Some individuals in the Chelsea side have struggled so far this season, but in the end, the performance of the team is all that matters.

Despite the comfortable scoreline of Chelsea’s 3-0 victory over West Ham on Monday evening, a palpable anxiety could be felt around Stamford Bridge until Tammy Abraham scored the team’s second goal in the 80’. The Hammers had a solid spell of possession for a most of the second half, with last-ditch defending and a few fortunate offside calls preserving the clean sheet throughout. The victory, while extremely important in terms of ending the Blues’ two-match skid, was nonetheless another frustrating performance for Timo Werner, who simply can’t seem to find the back of the net at the moment. The German international had three solid chances to end his goal drought, but a few miss-kicks and a thunderous bullet off the crossbar denied him glory.

While Werner and a few other forwards might not be performing as well as they could be at this point in time, the team has been an absolute force on the attack this season. Goals have come from a number of unexpected sources and have kept Chelsea in the title race for the moment, among fierce competition from other top contenders.

Fans of these contenders will point to the less-than-stellar stats among the Blues’ high-profile signings, specifically Werner and his compatriot, Kai Havertz, as evidence that the team’s attack has been underperforming. This couldn’t be further from the truth as Chelsea has scored the second-most goals in the Premier League this season, 29, just below Liverpool’s tally of 36. The Blues also only trail the Merseyside club on goal differential by two goals (+15 to +17) for best in the English top flight.

A more telling statistic that proves the Blues’ prowess going forward is the fact that they have the most goal scorers in the PL with 13. Abraham leads the team with five goals, followed closely by Werner and Kurt Zouma—the league’s highest-scoring defender—who both have four. Behind Chelsea, Manchester United has the second-most goal scorers with 12, followed by Manchester City with 11 and Liverpool with 10.

Historically, it’s been advantageous for a club to have a talisman center forward, a la Harry Kane or Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who accounts for most of its goals. During the summer, Frank Lampard would surely have been hoping that Werner would fill this role as he did in the Bundesliga, where he scored 91 goals in 222 appearances for RB Leipzig. However, in a season afflicted by unexpected positive COVID tests, having multiple players who can be relied on to score consistently could be an unexpected blessing.

Additionally, the difficulties of the congested fixture list might not be too detrimental to Chelsea because of its dependable goal scorers. Rotation is necessary, especially during the holiday period, and Lampard will be grateful that Werner’s arrival has not had a negative effect on the Blues’ other strikers. Werner, Abraham and Olivier Giroud all seem to get along well, so the competition within the squad should be friendly, rather than hostile.

It’s undeniable that no Chelsea players competing for the Premier League golden boot is disappointing for supporters, but the team’s results are ultimately—and infinitely—more important. Hopefully Werner will break out of his funk soon, but until then, we must be content to watch Zouma and Thiago Silva gloriously rise above opposing defenders on corner kicks.