Being a Chelsea striker is hard no matter who you are

Recent weeks have seen many Chelsea fans ponder Romelu Lukaku’s role in the attack. There seems to be this (myth) of remembering last season as a fluid, flowing, and fruitful attack and somehow Lukaku has ruined that. With one more static member of the attack, the rest has suffered they will argue.

Did the attack truly go stale because of Romelu Lukaku? Kai Havertz showed Chelsea fans that it’s a hard role to play for anyone. The Blues proved (or rather, further proved) that Norwich is the canary in the coal mine when it comes to relegation as they won 7-0. Absent from the scoresheet? Kai Havertz who played up top. Not only that, he’ll likely be absent from the highlights as well.

This isn’t even a knock on Havertz. It turns out, playing as a striker for a top club in the Premier League is hard. Chelsea fans should know that with Didier Drogba and Diego Costa really being the only two to A: be given a consistent chance and B: be able to take that chance consistently in the last two decades. Yet, much was still made about Lukaku’s role in recent weeks. The Blues won 7-0 against Norwich, but it is hard to say Havertz played much of a direct role in that scoreline.

Antonio Conte once called strikers a reference point, and in the modern game that is certainly true. Whether strikers press or not, they are the first defender. Whether they score or not, they are often seen as the last and most important attacker as well. Teams put more bodies on strikers than anyone else and it forces the team with the ball to work around that.

Which, in Havertz’s defense, he did very well. If his role was to pin the centerbacks and free up space for Callum Hudson-Odoi and Mason Mount, than he did that role well. But, like Lukaku, he found it difficult to do much else. The goals (particularly in the first half) came through breaks and fast play before the defense could be set up. When Norwich could get into shape, Havertz became a non factor.

And this would have been the case for Lukaku, Timo Werner, or whoever. Strikers are an easy player to lock down. That’s why so many strikers have learned to move wide and deep to escape. It’s why so many wingers have learned to cut in and fill that space, not only to pin the centerbacks but to cause them to think of who they should be marking. It’s also why crossing has made a slow comeback, though Chelsea has a very bad habit of only crossing when they have strikers that aren’t suited to receive them (and vice versa).

Being a striker is hard. It’s a role where the player is constantly swimming against the current hoping they can find a way through. Lukaku has been suffering from it and now Havertz has as well. With no recognized striker for a few weeks, whoever does play up top is going to face similar issues against Newcastle, Malmo, and Burnley. The trick is finding a way through regardless and others were able to do that again and again against Norwich.