Three lessons learnt in Chelsea 2-0 Middlesbrough: Incredible form

2. Chelsea’s consistently inconsistent attack

It may be March already, but it would appear that Tuchel, even at this stage of the season, has yet to settle upon a preferred attacking trio. The last few matches that Chelsea played consistently featured one or two switches in the attack between games. There has even been a return of the 3-5-2 line-up against Lille that saw Christian Pulisic and Kai Havertz start up front together.

Against Middlesbrough, Tuchel once again went with a different front three combination. While the Blues did eventually come away comfortable 2-0 winners, the attack was nowhere near as convincing in the second half as it was the first. Romelu Lukaku, for one, was sluggish on the ball at the start of the match and once again struggled to get involved in build-up play the way that Havertz usually can. While he did grow into the game as the match progressed—neatly tapping home Mason Mount’s cross 15 minutes in and showing good awareness and hold-up play in the second half—he did not seem to have done enough to wrestle back the starting berth. Pulisic, playing on the left side of Chelsea’s attack, had his influence on the game largely curbed by the impressive Isaiah Jones and likewise failed to impress.

Nevertheless, despite the constant chopping and changing of the starting XI, it would seem that Tuchel has an increasingly established hierarchy when it comes to his attacking selections. It is clear, for instance, that Havertz, Mount and Hakim Ziyech would form the core of the Chelsea attack as long as they are fully fit and available for selection. What this spells for the likes of Timo Werner, who has simply failed to kick on from last season, and Lukaku, who has largely struggled with the demands of Tuchel’s style of play, remains to be seen.