The Chelsea Problem

As Project Restart and Football seasons the world over begin to see their respective ends upon the horizon, a certain team in the West side of England’s capital seem to be getting a lot of hype - based both off of their current play and plans falling into place for the 2020/21 season slated for later this year. Now with a club legend at the helm, I’ve personally not been able to shake this feeling throughout the season that the blues have been given an easy ride/free pass, now whether or not you think it’s fair, the bigger issue is what is at hand - With the Blues being touted as a potential title challengers, I’m looking at the situation and seeing a few gaping holes as well others cropping up on a daily basis from transfer rumours to the closing fixtures, let’s look into it.

Left to Right: Hudson-Odoi, Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek & Rüdiger walking off at Bramall Lane

Approaching his second season at Chelsea, I’ve by no means been impressed and the same goes for his season at Derby. Look, have your opinions but I think it needs to be said, the man overestimates his abilities, look back into his old interviews where he asserts he’s of better worth than other aspiring managers, I can’t see why there is any source for his claims but furthermore, I hate the presumption there’s some causality between a successful playing career and managerial success, it just reeks of some kind of nepotism and shows the state of poor British management, punditry and analysis - there’s a shocking lack of diversity and it’s the same old faces in the same old rhetoric week in, week out, from Gary Neville’s bias toward Manchester United or the surface level analysis that can be found on MOTD. Lampard and Chelsea are the focus here though so I’ll get back on track, in his prior year of management he achieved a typical Derby season of bottling it in the play-offs and losing his head at Rotherham, getting himself a red card. He didn’t implement much of a play style and was bolstered by a few Chelsea youngsters - Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori who seemed to only use the championship season as a means to groom them ahead of this year. He headed to Stamford Bridge with those two in tow and a ‘Get out of Jail Free‘ card from the press and analysis, Chelsea havent been scrutinised in any degree this season and I’m tired of it to be honest, there are some major flaws that need addressing ahead and during the 2020/21 season that should equally be met with more cynicism.

Pulisic, Jorginho & Giroud in pre match warm-ups

The clubs situation that needs fixing majorly is the defence and goalkeeper. So to start with we’ll begin here and the goalkeeper spot. The loneliest and most high pressure position on the pitch often opens up for intense scrutiny and the options at the Bridge have suffered their fair share of criticisms. Firstly I’ll look at Caballero - Age 38 he is pushing ever closer to the twilight of his career. Buffon is an exceptional example playing strong into his 40s and still going but Caballero has never really possessed the talents of the Italian legend. A penalty specialist, he’s been second choice since his initial premier league move to Manchester City, somewhat undersized for the position, I think it’s a fair argument to say the game has moved past him and the old wave of goalkeepers and he doesn’t strike me as a Ben Foster type who can deny his body and the ageing process to perform at a good standard, he’s got his uses still but I wouldn’t feel confident in starting him. Kepa is the difficult one here, and I’m sure that comes as no surprise. A world record fee when he arrived in London, he came with promise and still has an enormous potential to fulfil and he’s still young for the goalkeeping spot. Kepa has a future in the game but I’m starting to question whether or not it will be in the English capital. Totalling over 3,400 minutes this season, it’s clear he’s still favoured as Number 1 so I can’t really understand why he got into this situation, perhaps things soured under former manager Sarri something similar might’ve occurred with Lampard behind closed doors, but either way I need to see the manager do his job essentially, act on it and make a decision - Commit to Kepa, give him assurances and hope his stock rises again, or axe him totally and get a replacement such as André Onana who looks to be leaving Ajax. This spot is just one issue in the backline and honestly it’s a little harsh to solely blame Kepa, I don’t care how good a stopper is, they need some defensive protection, Jordan Pickford’s final season at Sunderland saw him face a peppering week in, week out and generally, you can possibly think someone like a Manuel Neuer or Alisson would keep a clean sheet behind a Sunday League defence. The position has incredibly high and perhaps unattainable standards that really need to be revised and certainly face better analysis by broadcasters and reporting outfits.

Kepa in action mid-game

The defence is by far the worst and most unaddressed issue in the squad and there are a million different sub-plots as you why the quality has dipped. At this stage, the club need to come to terms with the fact that the core is pretty much rotten and is in desperate need of cutting ties with some of the deadwood that plagues them. With a further squad of men all contracted to the club but not in the team (recent signings, academy graduate fringe players, surplus, member of the ’Loan Army’ etc.) a third of nearly 30 players they have are defenders of sorts - Goalkeepers who’ll never don the gloves, prospects like Trevoh Chalobah or George McEachran who’ve gone completely off the boil, even Victor Moses was a solid wing back when the Blues last won the title. All this does is perpetuate the negative issue around Chelsea, it isn’t an attractive prospect for many players and they’ve mishandled a lot of these careers so to keep it short and sweet, I’ll only really mention those who could still run for spots at the club. Ethan Ampadu and Matt Miazga are the most promising centre-back options and have credentials both physically and technically to run the current stars close. Centrally, Fikayo Tomori is a shoe in for starting and needs a partner - Ampadu currently lacks a little height to be a presence but still could grow, whereas the American Miazga is more of a tower at the back, imposing with a Maguire-esque build that could benefit the West London team. A physical unit to compliment the graceful Tomori and make a solid base round the ’keeper. So, there are clear prospects but the deadwood needs flogging - Christensen and Rüdiger, where do you begin? Rüdiger‘s quality is an odd one, he’s a World Cup winner who possesses some good pedigree from the Bundesliga to the Serie A, he’s been blighted by injury but the gangly defender does seem as if he’d now be better fitting as a second fiddle to a more stable option. The bigger outcry here is Christensen, a man who has been touted as a prospect for years who’s all but flopped.

Above - Ampadu in action on loan at RB Leipzig, Below - Miazga lining up for the USMNT

After a prolonged loan spell at Borussia Monchengladbach, he’s failed to recapture his form at Chelsea and in more recent games, especially the recent loss in Sheffield to the Blades Where he was caught napping. During his 25 plus appearances for Chelsea this season it seems to be his constant demeanour, not a calming presence of VVD just one that seems to be at times a little unprepared for the standard of competition he’s facing. Looking wider, I can’t see why Tomori hasn’t been granted more of a run out, and it’s even more odd considering how much trust Lampard placed in him at Derby. The full-backs are problematic also, it’s a paradox of choice to be completely truthful. A lot of the options regardless of that though, do bring their own inconsistencies for various reasons. From prospect James to the ageing Alonso and Azpilacueta. I think it shows a lot though, how Lampard has sort of failed to really settle on a team and system as he juggled the A list young stars and big name signings, a problem that will no doubt snowball next season. The indecisiveness only creates a problem at the back, given the shallow pool of talent, you never really allow players to settle alongside each other and form a partnership that can iron out any issues or dig them out of trouble when it’s needed and needs to be re-assessed over the summer.

An injured Rüdiger (left) and Zouma embrace in post Match celebrations

I could spend all day covering the defence but the them runs throughout the squad to be honest. The only thing that changes when moving forward is a blip of defiance from the older heads in the squad, looking overall the team is actually quite young with some of the players in their prime being midfield stars N’Golo Kanté and Italian counterpart Jorginho. The most odd thing here is the apparent need for midfield reinforcements, and a large number of them at that. Unlike the pressing issues at Left full-back and centrally in defence, the midfield at Chelsea is many a managers dream and I feel if it was a different, more experienced manager, you’d see Chelsea as genuine title contenders. Kanté as A player is one of two truly elite footballers who made a major impact to his club on arrival, he was the original and Virgil Van Dijk followed suit at Liverpool. N’Golo has quietly plugged away in London, he’s notched over a century of appearances, won three major honours, somehow become human and picked up a couple of injuries but has been criminally underused and forced out of positions which conflicts with his peer Jorginho. The Italian has featured 29 times compared to the Frecnhman’s 22 - now for as much as they are fundamentally different, its strikes me as if their usage has been conflated to an extent so they’re now essentially playing the same role of anchoring the midfield whilst having to be a mix of effective defenders and good ball players. Now when they’ve played together (On roughly 15 occasions) the pair clash - the club have done fine results wise but I can’t see how those playing together compliments the team, the midfield loses its balance and forces Mount into having the majority of the creative burden and makes the wingers have to be more lethal, opposed to sharing the goal scoring throughout the squad. Now it can work, football is more system based in this day and age, and look to the current Champions of Klopp’s Liverpool as to how a midfield can be utilised in a different manner. The scousers‘ midfield is Comprised of true athletes from Milner to Wijnaldum and everyone between the ‘engine room’ of Liverpool have a different job - just harass, completely overwhelm the attackers of the opposition where Chelsea are stuck in two worlds - they’ve got players who are more creative and forward minded in Mount, Jorginho, Kovacic, Barkley and soon to be Ziyech who are all silky passers, and in the other hand, have Kanté and Loftus-Cheek who are more able of box-to-box and defensive play. There just needs to be a plan and an approach to incorporate these players and their styles but also allow for rotation if and when needed so the likes of Gilmour, RLC and Barkley can chip in and forge a structure of unpredictability. The rumours and Billy Gilmour are really baffling me as it stands, the Scottish teen has been given a good run out and has shown his Iniesta-like skill and would’ve probably had a good claim for consistent first team football had he not sustained a knee injury that has him sidelined for a number of months now. So while he’s pushed to the back of the mind for now, you do get a real selection dilemma when the upcoming season gets into full swing as every player offers a different style. Ziyech has jumped to Chelsea from Ajax in an absolute steal, but he pushes Barkley even further down the pecking order and does seem a little unneeded as his talents are visible in a few other Chelsea players who’ve done well for themselves this season. While he can And will offer a lot with his passing range and set piece speciality, it’s going to be tough to find an identity as a unit in the middle of the park and it’ll be a nightmare if they don’t click. Elsewhere I do also worry about the possible capture of Kai Havertz, he really does raise a number of issues with selection and again, just taints Chelsea’s image as hoarders of talent, especially if the German attacking midfielder isn’t given a large role in the squad. Having fast become one of the Bundesliga’s best players let alone young talents, he finds himself between Mount and Barkley in terms of physical stature and is a mix between the two as a player as well - pacey, technical, well drilled and skilful, he would be a great a link between midfield and attack for any team and I think there are more Valid suitors than Chelsea, though his presence as a somewhat ‘second striker’ would benefit them to an extent as the forward line is also undergoing major upheaval. If he goes to Chelsea, something that looks more likely by the day, that midfield goes off the scales in a bad way, there’s a lack of dynamism and no base whatsoever.

Top to Bottom: Loftus-Cheek and Kanté tussling, Mount readying for a corner, Gilmour in contest with Milivojevic, Hakim Ziyech in training and possible new boy: Kai Havertz celebrating

Having covered the midfield and back line, that leaves only the attack, which is by far the weirdest of the banks of players. Again it seems like the clubs holding onto players for dear life but aren’t making any moves to address the situations that are growing sour. One would assume that going into next season and beyond that Christian Pulisic & Callum Hudson-OdoI are favoured time start ok the wings but it would still be a sensible move to get an option who’s happy to play back up as Hudson-Odoi had caught a few knocks and Pulisic could become complacent in time after fighting tooth and nail to be trusted with a spot. Willian‘s situation needs desperately solving, either relent and offer him a new deal or lose the 20 goals he’s contributed this year, in some ways the forward line is suffering a natural decay whilst still having a host of talented players in and around their primes. Giroud is a seasoned veteran at this point and has experience he can offer to all those around him, plus he’s still capable of bagging a goal when he’s needed, as shown against Norwich. Under him is Tammy Abraham, in his early 20s, netting on 16 occasions and proving to be reliable beyond his inexperience. Abraham has been a revelation of sorts, he’s lead the line extremely well and is only going to improve with time, so he needs a large portion of the game time going forth to really develop, he’s at a stage where he can’t afford to be playing as second string week in, week out. This leaves Belgian, Michy Batshuayi and new boy Timo Werner. Batshuayi is a man who strikes me as someone that’ll put the team first and as such he could be a decent option out wide just solely as a cover, he’s also been prolific in his own right - scoring 7 in 10 at Dortmund and being useful at Crystal Palace also, he could still do a job for Lampard but might be best coming to terms with the need to move. Werner is all that’s left. I’ve no insider knowledge into how the teams looking to line up next year and hey, we might still see Lampard not being able to settle on a squad each game but only time will tell. Having convinced the German to move to the capital with a promise of game time that couldn’t be assured at Liverpool, Werner sticks out like a sore thumb. Abraham and Giroud are a hybrid of finishers and target men whereas Werner is short and fast, it does bring a different dimension to their game and perhaps makes them difficult opposition but would be a bit of a culture shock in some senses and is a little jarring compared to their current play style. They do have some options and could play with a traditional 2 man strike force but once more, time will make things clear.

Various Shots of the squad in Celebration

Now the situation is a difficult one and I’ve done my best to put my spin on things here. I’ve linked a few videos below from some sources I really respect and find to be extremely informative plus they offer a more optimistic take on the situation than that of mine - get a different side of the argument and see where you fall.

HughWizzy https://youtu.be/axLcJLLMmH4

WhatCulture Football https://youtu.be/qiNSlXf4_ng