Chelsea at Southampton predicted XI: 3-4-1-2 is the only way is up

Reece James (No. 24) Right wingback, England

Reece James had no defensive awareness whatsoever against Real Madrid. He made just two defensive actions in the entire game. The fact that James played as a wide defensive player makes the few defensive involvements more alarming. James was inconsequential against Los Blancos, which is funny because many fans were sure that Chelsea would need him to be able to get anything from the game.

The Blues mainly attacked through their left side, which was stupid of the players because it meant putting most of the creation load on a flank with Azpilicueta, rather than on a flank with James. Nothing about James stood out on the night. Nothing. Vinicius Jr. ran off James for most of the game, almost always getting in behind him when he wanted to. James also has some sorting out to do if Chelsea is going to return to winning ways

Jorginho (No. 5) Central midfielder, Italy

Jorginho displayed the most initiative in the Real Madrid match. He created the most chances, made the second-most passes and had the third most progressive passes for Chelsea on the night. The Italian also won five out of nine contested duels. Jorginho’s distribution was very good, capped off by a beautifully-timed cross to Kai Havertz, who headed home to cut the goal deficit in two. He was most likely taken off to preserve him for the next game rather than as a consequence of his performance. After all, Jorginho was one of the Blues’ better players on the night. Many preferred to use this as another opportunity to scapegoat him, despite him being the only midfielder who actually contributed offensively, defensively and through distribution.

Mateo Kovacic (No. 8) Central midfielder, Croatia

Mateo Kovacic was substituted for Andreas Christensen at halftime. He was also poor. His distribution was good, but he made few positive contributions defensively. Kovacic did create one chance, but overall he didn’t justify his inclusion at halftime.

Marcos Alonso (No. 3) Left wingback, Spain

Marcos Alonso sat out the 90 minutes against Real Madrid. This was a good decision by Tuchel as Alonso has not only played a lot of games lately, but he will also play a majority of the games coming up as he’s Chelsea’s only fit left wingback. The Blues attacked more down their left flank and would have gotten more out of it had Alonso played. That said, the only flank that produced a big chance was the left, so maybe their decision to attack down that side was not the wrong one. Alonso gives Chelsea much more than other left wingback pseudo-options, both in and out of possession.