Chelsea are undergoing a tough period currently. Enzo Maresca’s men were already facing criticism from the fans following a 3-1 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League opener. The defeat against a struggling Manchester United only piled on the pressure on Saturday and has raised questions about this team's credentials for a top-four finish.
Despite spending a lot of money and strengthening their squad over the last few years, Chelsea find themselves lacking the quality to be considered serious contenders for any major trophy. Of course, they have not been helped by injuries, but that cannot be an excuse when you have this much depth.
Meanwhile, football pundit Jamie Carragher has once again given his take on the club. The former Liverpool player has often been known to be overly critical of Chelsea, but his recent comments do speak the truth.
The Chelsea Chronicle have reported that Carragher has said:
"My criticism with Chelsea is that the 3 and a half years the owners have been there and they have that team, we’re sat here saying they’ve got no chance for the league and Chelsea fans know that too."
Jamie Carragher drops truth on why Chelsea are still not title contenders
Unfortunately, that is the reality of Chelsea's situation. The biggest issue is, the club have seemed unwilling to strengthen in some areas which are clearly weak points. As Carragher stated on Sky Sports:
"You can’t turn up to Old Trafford with the goalkeeper and centre-backs that you've got, it can't win you the league."
Chelsea were initially looking to bring in a new goalkeeper and even placed an offer for Mike Maignan, but they changed their mind after the Club World Cup. The Blues could have also gone after Gianluigi Donnarumma, who joined Manchester City recently and has looked tremendous.
Now, coming to the centre-backs, the situation isn’t any better there either. Levi Colwill will miss the majority of the season after picking up an ACL injury in training. There are obviously other options at the club, but none of them have proven themselves to be reliable so far.
Notably, Jorrel Hato was the club’s only defensive signing in the summer. However, he is still young and needs some time to settle in. Additionally, the centre-back position isn’t his natural one, which is another thing to keep in mind. Enzo Maresca did seem keen for a player to be brought in there but it was claimed that the club were confident with the options they had. Now, they are paying the price for it.
Anyway, what’s done is done, and there’s no sense in pointing fingers now. The manager should find solutions soon, else the team could be heading towards another poor campaign.