When Chelsea beat Palace 3-0 on the opening weekend in August, a lot of optimism was surrounding the Blues. The European champions got off to the perfect start and Romelu Lukaku’s return was imminent. In stark contrast, despite holding World Club champions status, Chelsea’s 1-0 win over the same opponents on Saturday prompted more questions than answers.
The performances are continually worsening and this is not how this season was supposed to unfold. Thomas Tuchel put the blame on jetlag and travelling for another laboured performance. However, the truth is such performances have become a norm well before the Club World Cup. Chelsea have won just two of their last six in the league and have struggled against inferior oppositions.
Chelsea required extra time and a penalty save from Kepa to get past League One Plymouth in the FA Cup. In the Club World Cup too, performances were far from convincing and one or two moments of quality did the job. The attack is clearly the problem, with the Blues finding it incredibly hard to put a string of offensive passes. It’s perhaps embarrassing to think that despite investing heavily on attacking talent over the past two summers, it’s the absence of two full-backs that has blunted the Blues’ edge.
Romelu Lukaku and Co. are struggling
Backed by Didier Drogba to rejuvenate his Chelsea career after Club World Cup heroics, Lukaku endured another frustrating outing in the league. The Belgian registered just seven touches of the ball, the fewest since 2003/04 (one touch was from kick-off). After spear-heading Inter’s charge to the Serie A last season, Lukaku was expected to fill the one deficiency in the Chelsea squad.
But Lukaku has managed just five goals in 17 Premier League appearances and is struggling to get involved in matches. The latter is the real concern for which the manager and his teammates have to take blame. The likes of Hakim Ziyech, Christian Pulisic, Kai Havertz, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Timo Werner are all quality players but seem to forget how to play when on the field.
There is no cohesion, no synchronisation, and hence no fluidity in Chelsea’s attacks. All the Blues seem to know is to get the ball out to the wing-backs and get crosses. That tactic served well when Reece James and Ben Chilwell were available. But without them, do Chelsea need to rely on Malang Sarr and Andreas Christensen for width and creativity?
Chelsea are well behind City and Liverpool – the numbers back that
In today’s world, movement is the key to draw defenders out of position. But there’s none of that in Chelsea’s case. Defenders have a field trip marshalling Lukaku who ends up isolated and outnumbered. Chelsea have fallen well behind of City and Liverpool in terms of goals scored and goal difference, and consequently in points. A deeper dive into the statistics produces a worrying image.
- Goals scored – Liverpool: 64, Man City: 63, Chelsea: 49
- Shots on target per 90 min – Liverpool: 7, Man City: 6.7, Man United, Chelsea, Arsenal: 5.2
- Big chances created – Liverpool: 72, Man City: 59, Man United: 52, Chelsea: 47
- Total shots – Liverpool: 176, City: 175, Man United: 135, Chelsea: 131
- Expected goals – Liverpool: 59.7, City: 56.2, Chelsea: 41.2
As you can see, Chelsea are significantly behind the top two in the attacking stats and behind Man United also in some of them. The fact that they are still third is down to lack of competition from the chasing pack and their defense. However, football has evolved since the “Defense wins you titles” days, and scoring goals is equally as important as preventing them.
Tuchel has been in charge for more than a year but still hasn’t figured out the attack. Even signing Lukaku for a record fee hasn’t provided the solution for the German. If he doesn’t find a solution, Chelsea could drop out of the top four with the chasing pack closing in. If Chelsea continue to play like Saturday, they will find every opposition tough to break down.