Three lessons learnt in Everton 1-0 Chelsea: Tactical blunders
By Hugo Amaya
Chelsea should have taken three points from its trip to Goodison Park, but from the first kick of the ball, everyone knew that wasn’t going to happen. It was an entertaining match as the Blues were the better structured team and Everton relied on stamina and counter attacks. In the end, Chelsea did not have enough composer, fire power or creativity to break down the opposition’s stubborn defense. The Toffees’ goal was a consequence of Cesar Azpilicueta’s mistake and Chelsea was denied by a series of superhuman saves from Jordan Pickford. In the end, the Blues only have themselves to blame for the dropped points.
Here are three lessons we learnt in the defeat on the blue half of Merseyside:
1. Chelsea needs to wake up
After the loss against Real Madrid, it’s seemed as if the reigning European Champions aren’t fighting for anything. Simply put, the Blues need to wake up. Thomas Tuchel set out a plan to control the game, force Everton back into the defense, and at some point, score a goal or two. Although the Toffees showed determination, this shouldn’t have changed the proposed outcome. Instead, Chelsea played to Everton’s strengths and allowed the game to get out of hand.
In the attack, Chesea did virtually nothing. It’s not that the Everton defense did a fantastic job, the Blues were just not doing enough in terms of creating chances. Once they got in a decent position, no real support or avenue was found, or a back pass was made. Kai Havertz, Mason Mount and Timo Werner failed to play off each other and did not contribute to anything substantial. This cannot happen any longer as the season begins to wind down and every game matters. The Chelsea attack needs to wake up and find avenues to score against even the most defensive sides.
The Blues played right into the Toffees’ hands on Sunday, instead of trying to turn the tables. Everton did not allow much space for the attackers, but the visiting forwards didn’t do much to create gaps in between or even break the defense. Now, it is worth noting that Pickford decided to become a super human and stop two point-blank shots. Nevertheless, the Blues simply did not test the England No. 1 enough. Chelsea should have found solutions, not created problems.