Yesterday, Chelsea succumbed to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of defending champions Manchester City. The scoreline suggests a closely fought encounter, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Man City absolutely battered Chelsea and could have scored more than the one they scored. Meanwhile, their hosts failed to muster a single shot on target for the first time under Thomas Tuchel.
While losing to City is by no means the end of the world, the manner of defeat was very demoralizing. Chelsea just failed to offer any kind of attacking threat and did not even try until they went behind. Introduction of Kai Havertz did change things slightly, but even then they didn’t trouble Ederson in goal. Man City were always comfortable and looked likelier of the two teams to score the second goal, and probably should have.
Pep Guardiola is often notorious for over-thinking and messing up tactics in the big games. But this time, it was Tuchel who got it wrong. He opted for the 3-5-2 formation, Jorginho, N’Golo Kanté and Mateo Kovačić as the midfield trio, with Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku paired up front. While this worked wonders in the second half against Spurs, it totally backfired in this one.
With a back three and wing backs, did he really need an extra defensive midfielder? They lacked that attacking midfielder who could drive at Man City and allow his team to push forward. Instead, Chelsea looked to find Lukaku and Werner as soon as they won possession, both of whom were well martialed by City. As a result, Chelsea just couldn’t make progress in City’s half and lost possession as soon as they had it.
That did change with Kai Havertz’s introduction, but by then, City already had the lead. It is still early days, and the plus side is the tough start for Chelsea is over. They faced four of the ‘big six’ in their first six matches, and have won 2, drawn 1 and lost 1 of those. A run of ‘relatively easy’ fixtures lies ahead, and they can make up the ground in those fixtures. But these are the type of matches you want to win. To win a title, you must beat your title rivals. Winning these games boosts your morale and sends out a message to others.
A team’s true capability is tested in adversity. Despite a dreadful performance, Chelsea could have shown a bit of a backbone after going behind. But they failed to do so, and this has been a problem with Chelsea for a long time. It’s almost like you know they will lose when they go behind in games. Those fighting back qualities, which is a key quality of any title winner, seem to be lacking in this team.
I know coming from behind against Man City, who are arguably the perfect team to hold on to a lead is difficult, but Chelsea failed to even offer a fight. If Chelsea are to challenge for the title, they must work on dealing with such adversities. Only six games are played, majority of the season is left, and there’s plenty of time for them to improve. The only saving grace for Chelsea were the results elsewhere, as the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool also dropped points.
As for City, it was a great win. They were below par against Southampton last week but got back to their best yesterday. A good win personally for Guardiola too, as he snapped a three-game losing streak to Tuchel. They’re ahead of Chelsea on goal difference, and one point behind Liverpool, who drew 3-3 at Brentford.