Positives and negatives to learn from after Chelsea loss

Negatives

Execution in the final third

Lampard’s men were poor in the final third, partly down to how poorly the forwards executed their ideas but perhaps more down to how well Julen Lopetegui’s men nullified them. It didn’t help that the forwards didn’t make themselves difficult to nullify. A front three of Kai Havertz, Joao Felix, and Raheem Sterling combined for 1/5 shots on target, 4/5 shots blocked, 2/2 dribbles completed (all Sterling), 1/5 crosses completed, three chances created, and an xG of 0.39. Yes, combined. Havertz did win all five aerials duels he contested. The Blues were not sharp in the attacking section of the pitch.

The Blues as a Sieve

The west London club allowed Wolves to play through them way too easily. Granted, it is Lampard’s first game since coming back and has not had time to train them in any structure, however, CFC should not look as open as they did against any opposition. Whenever they lost the ball, especially in the midfield, they did not handle the possession loss well. Put it this way: If Koulibaly and Fofana did not make last man tackles, the scoreline would have been worse than it was, and the scoreline is bad as it is.

Many things went wrong on the day, and Chels‘ cannot afford to look the way they did against Wolves. it’s good that James was great as well, because he will have a very difficult game against Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr.