Chelsea were handed a disappointing 2-1 defeat by Manchester United in the Premier League on Saturday. The Blues were reduced to ten men just five minutes into the match as Robert Sanchez received a straight red for his challenge just outside the penalty box, and from there, it was all downhill.
The weaknesses of the Blues are slowly getting clearer with each passing matchday. This is their second straight loss in all competitions and the team haven’t picked up a win in the last three matches.
Chelsea fans are left wondering whether this is just the start of another disappointing season to come. Despite a largely successful summer transfer window, the club haven’t been able to fill a major void in the squad. Clearly, Chelsea needed to sign a new centre-back following the injury to Levi Colwill.
The Blues had the funds and there were a lot of options available on the market as well, but they decided against strengthening the position. One of their arguments was they had already secured Jorrel Hato, which is true. But the fact that the Dutch international is still young, and isn’t a natural centre-back should have been taken into consideration.
Chelsea made this huge mistake in the summer transfer window
In the last season, Chelsea missed the services of Wesley Fofana. The club had to recall Trevoh Chalobah back from loan to manage the situation. But it looks like they didn’t take any valuable lessons from that, as in this campaign as well, the same issue has arisen with the absence of Colwill.
Although there’s not too much to complain about in Chelsea’s attacking display, as most of them were off the pitch after 20 minutes, when it comes to defence, it is a different story altogether. Enzo Maresca is currently trying out new combinations at the back but hasn’t been able to find a permanent solution yet.
Meanwhile, Axel Disasi, who failed to find a club this summer, has been left out of the squad, as Maresca has made it clear that the player doesn’t feature in his plans. That said, he was one of the starters under former Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino, and perhaps it’s time to reconsider the decision.
Nevertheless, Chelsea were overly focused on bolstering their forwardline and midfield while neglecting the defence. This might prove to be a costly mistake, and the current run of poor games is already showing signs of that.
All things considered, despite being depleted, Chelsea still have a lot of quality players in their squad who just need to step up and find their rhythm once again. They are the world champions after all and we hope the Blues return to winning ways soon.