Chelsea’s latest defeat has brought a slew of analysis, not least on ESPN where various pundits weighed in on the Blues and their struggles.One major question last week and this week was over Enzo M...
Chelsea’s latest defeat has brought a slew of analysis, not least on ESPN where various pundits weighed in on the Blues and their struggles.
One major question last week and this week was over Enzo Maresca’s subs. After the Blues went down to ten men against Man U he took off both his wingers. Yesterday he made similar defensive moves as the game wore on, surrendering any threat on the counter and allowing Brighton to continually attack until they found the net – three times.
Lack of physicality up front hurts ten man Chelsea
A group photo of Chelsea players. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
On ESPN, Shaka Hislop despaired at the lack of physicality in the squad, which he contrasted with the good old days:
“I’m not even sure Chelsea have the personnel to play with ten men,” Hislop said.
“In my days, with Didier Drogba, you could just put the ball up in the air and he would bring it down and keep hold of it. Joao Pedro is not that kind of player.”
JP is a big guy – he should be able to hold it up. He just looks knackered because he’s been playing 90 minutes once or twice a week since the season started. We’re not sure how we will cope next week, when we will need him against Benfica and against
Chelsea collapsing from front to back
After starting the season well defensively but struggling in attack, Chelsea are now poor in both areas, as injuries depleted their options.
“If Cole Palmer’s injured, you do wonder where the goals will come from. For me, Chelsea have to be pushing for 4th spot, but that could be tough because defensively they have a problem,” said Stevie Nicol.
Last year we stumbled over the line into the Champions League because of the nice big points cushion we built up in the Autumn. That’s not going to be the case this year.
Category: General Sports
