It’s no secret what the key to Chelsea’s success has been ever since Thomas Tuchel took the reins. The German immediately solidified the Blues’ defense upon his arrival back in January, doing so by moving to a back three. Previous managers have enjoyed success with this formation in SW6, most notably Antonio Conte and on some occasions, Frank Lampard. Chelsea’s core is built to be a team that plays three at the back and its continued defensive success to begin the current campaign confirmed this belief. The Blues began the year on pace to possibly match some of the best defensive records in Premier League history. This saw them draw comparisons with the club’s stellar 2004/05 defense under Jose Mourinho.
However, in recent weeks, Chelsea has begun to slip up. The warning signs were there against Burnley before the latest international break when the side failed to get all three points following a mental error by the entire back line. This seemed like a one-off mistake after the Blues went on to thrash Leicester City and Juventus in back-to-back matches. Nevertheless, the problems ascended back to the surface recently. Chelsea hasn’t kept a clean sheet in its last four matches, shipping in three goals against its last two opponents. This is the first time any team has put more than two past the Blues since West Bromwich Albion last season—it’s now happened in consecutive contests. Therefore, it’s not an exaggeration to declare Chelsea has defensive issues.
Despite a stellar start to the season, Chelsea officially has defensive issues now
December is obviously a problematic period for the Blues and has been for years. While injuries and individual errors can certainly explain conceding to both Manchester United and Watford, there is simply no excuse for the last two performances. The difference between the aforementioned bouts and the recent meetings with West Ham and Zenit are the former didn’t have detrimental consequences. The shocking loss to the Irons dropped Chelsea out of first in the Premier League table and Zenit’s last-minute equalizer ensured the Blues finished second in Group H. Things are about to get real for Tuchel and he needs to fix his leaky back line.
It’s easy to look at the issues and immediately pin them on defenders like Malang Sarr, who didn’t exactly cover himself in glory on Wednesday night. However, the problems are much larger than just one player or even one unit. The Blues’ troubles in defense are three-fold.
Firstly, the defense is getting too comfortable. Supporters have watched numerous defenders simply switch off over the last few weeks. Andreas Christensen and Sarr were guilty of it in St. Petersburg in the Champions League, as was Antonio Rudiger against West Ham. Whether it’s not picking up runs, not reading the play or simply getting too far out of position, nearly everyone at the back is guilty of this over the past few matches. There is no real explanation either other than the fact that Chelsea has been flawless at the back for such a long period of time that complacency began to set in amongst the players. This cannot happen as the focus is what made the Blues such a stellar defensive unit to begin with.
Secondly, the wingback play is impacting defensive efficiency. The beauty of wingbacks is that they are the most versatile players on the pitch. Tuchel has capitalized on this reality as the wide men have become such an integral part in the Blues’ system over the last year. This season, we’ve seen the German manager address issues in attack by getting the wingbacks—namely Marcos Alonso, Ben Chilwell and Reece James—more involved higher up the pitch. The reason this works is because they all have excellent knowledge of the game. The latter two especially are amongst the world’s best wingbacks at both ends of the pitch.
That being said, it’s no coincidence that Chelsea’s defensive performance has begun to suffer as soon as Chilwell suffers a serious injury. It seems as if Tuchel has failed to adjust to life in the starting XI without the England international. His side is still playing as if Chilwell is in the side, which cannot be the case when Alonso steps in. The Spaniard is a superb wingback but he doesn’t possess the speed to track back like Chilwell does. Furthermore, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Saul have also been deployed there in the last few weeks as Tuchel tries to unlock opposing defenses, only for that position to be exploited by opponents.
Chilwell’s absence means the master tactician needs to find new ways to boost his attack while playing the fill-in left wingback deeper. After all, while the Blues’ defensive shape is referred to as a “back three,” the beauty of the formation is its ability to seamlessly flex into a “back five” when the wingbacks stay at home. The coaching staff needs to play to each individual’s strengths and stop plugging and playing in positions. Injuries mean rotation is necessary, but the fact of the matter is Hudson-Odoi is not a wingback. Involving the wingbacks more in defense will undoubtedly help plug the leak in the defense for the short term.
Lastly, the Blues are struggling in midfield. This is a position decimated by injuries with Jorginho, N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek all missing games for various reasons recently. This has meant Tuchel has tried a plethora of players in their place. The pivot has seen a bunch of new faces recently in Ross Barkley, Trevoh Chalobah, Reece James, Mason Mount, Saul and even Hakim Ziyech. It’d be unfair to say each and every one failed there because some only got a few minutes. However, many of those individuals lack the positional awareness to play as a central pairing in the middle of the park. Barkley, Loftus-Cheek and Saul have especially struggled with giving the ball away when trying to play out, which has put the defense under immense pressure. Jorginho’s error cannot go unmentioned either, although lumping him in with those who struggle to play in a pivot would be unfair to the third-place Ballon d’Or finisher. Injuries have been most unkind to the midfield and as long as the trio of Jorginho, Kante and Kovacic remains out, it’s worth Tuchel considering a different formation to account for the systematic fit—or lack thereof.
The reality is that while the goals allowed will always reflect both the defense and the goalkeeper, defending is a team activity. Clean sheets would not be possible without the contributions of forwards in their own final third, similar to how goals are seldom scored without a transition through the defense and midfield. Chelsea’s defense has looked poor lately but the onus is also on the wingbacks and midfielders to be better, as well. The loss of Chilwell and other important players has surely made life difficult for Tuchel and the Blues. Although this season seems like it’s going downhill quickly, it’s not a wash. Chelsea is still competing on four fronts (five if you count the Club World Cup). The calendar hasn’t even flipped yet, meaning there is plenty of time—and even a January transfer window if needs be—to turn things around.
The defense is a problem at this moment, but the wonderful thing about problems is that they all have solutions, some are just more complicated than others. Tuchel is one of the best managers in world football and he has an embarrassment of riches to work with going forward. The Blues will be just fine, this is just another bump in the road on the journey to greatness.
What do you think the Blues’ biggest issue at the back is right now? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!