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Chelsea vs Brighton: Three lessons learnt both on and off the pitch

By Anthony Gatt

LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 20: Chelsea Football Club fans celebrate outside the team's Stamford Bridge stadium on April 20, 2021 in London, England, after it was announced that Chelsea Football Club would seek to withdraw from the new European Super League. Six English premier league teams have announced they are part of plans for a breakaway European Super League. Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur will join 12 other European teams in a closed league similar to that of the NFL American Football League. In a statement released last night, the new competition "is intended to commence as soon as practicable" potentially in August. (Photo by Rob Pinney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 20: Chelsea Football Club fans celebrate outside the team's Stamford Bridge stadium on April 20, 2021 in London, England, after it was announced that Chelsea Football Club would seek to withdraw from the new European Super League. Six English premier league teams have announced they are part of plans for a breakaway European Super League. Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur will join 12 other European teams in a closed league similar to that of the NFL American Football League. In a statement released last night, the new competition "is intended to commence as soon as practicable" potentially in August. (Photo by Rob Pinney/Getty Images) /
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LEICESTER, ENGLAND – JANUARY 19: Mason Mount of Chelsea reacts during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Chelsea at The King Power Stadium on January 19, 2021 in Leicester, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Rui Vieira – Pool/Getty Images)
LEICESTER, ENGLAND – JANUARY 19: Mason Mount of Chelsea reacts during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Chelsea at The King Power Stadium on January 19, 2021 in Leicester, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Rui Vieira – Pool/Getty Images) /

I would be remiss if I failed to mention the news that broke just before kickoff, as it has provided football fans around the world a huge sigh of relief. If you’ve been living under a rock and have no clue what I’m referencing, Chelsea has withdrawn from The Super League. I can speak only for myself, but I think it’s pretty safe to say all this news that has surfaced the internet over the past 48 hours has made these games feel pointless. Here’s to hoping this will be the end of that and we put it firmly behind us.

In other news, a game was played on Tuesday. Chelsea took on Brighton at Stamford Bridge where a seemingly pointless bout turned integral in a matter of a couple of minutes. The Blues find themselves back into the top four—which has been the goal this season. It will always be the bare minimum for this club, regardless of any potential turbulent moments this season. As for the game itself, the players must of not have gotten the memo, as this was probably the most flat performance we’ve seen under Thomas Tuchel. The match ended 0-0 as Chelsea snuck back into the top four on goal difference.

Here are three lessons we learnt from the seemingly insignificant contest:

1. Mason Mount needs to stay further up the pitch

It was very hard to digest it all at once with the news developing every second, but I was shocked to see the line-up from Tuchel, which saw Mason Mount drop deeper into the midfield alongside Jorginho. The shock isn’t from the fact that I do not think Mount can play there, but rather he has been so instrumental on right side of a front three that I was surprised to see him dropped deeper. I know this might be the position that he plays for England alongside Declan Rice, but on Tuesday, I thought he was invisible. Mount was not really involved in the game at all. One could really see throughout the game that Chelsea was missing something up front until Callum Hudson-Odoi came on.

Maybe it was only a one time thing due to rotation and N’Golo Kante getting a break, but if that was the case, Billy Gilmour may be afforded a chance in that role going forward. Mount has to stay higher up the pitch because the Blues drastically missed his creativity and runs from those deep positions when he picks up the ball.

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