Recommended for you
Striker Raheem Sterling, speaking to Sun, said, “There are times when we finish a game (and) you just sit in the changing room looking into space because you can’t understand what has just happened.”
This explains the state of affairs at the West London club this season.
In addition to Sterling from Manchester City, new owner Todd Boehly brought an abundance of young attackers in the likes of Joao Felix, Enzo Fernandez and Mykhailo Mudryk. But the three managers who have managed this team thus far this season have all struggled to fit in these youngsters into a playing XI.
For all the money invested in attacking talent, Chelsea are 16th in the number of goals scored by a team in the league.
Where are the goals
The Blues this season have scored 30 goals in 32 games. When asked about it after the defeat against Real Madrid in the Champions League, interim manager Frank Lampard said: “I get that question a lot and my first feeling is work on the training pitch. I don’t think we can go much further with what we do there. We need to get confidence and we need to work to find that.”
Advertisement
Despite having some of the most potent frontline players, the team time and again struggles and seems to have a lack of creativity to break down tight defences or take a counter-attacking opportunity when presented. The constant chopping and changing in formations has not helped either.
Chelsea’s Thiago Silva, left, is substituted by Chelsea’s head coach Graham Potter during the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023.(AP Photo/Ian Walton)
Romelu Lukaku’s loaning back to Inter Milan earlier this season meant that the club has no striker to play up front. Thomas Tuchel, who was the manager at the start of the season, managed the lack of a proper number nine with two floating number nines and Mason Mount, who played as a link between the midfield and the front line. The width came through the wingbacks. However, the lack of natural goal-scoring instinct in whoever played as a fluid number nine meant that Chelsea lacked cutting edge up front.
Graham Potter, who replaced Tuchel midseason, also struggled to get goals out of this unevenly assembled squad. There seemed to be a lack of chemistry in the front line and a lack of awareness about what runs to make and what positions to take in the attacking phases of play. There have also been reports suggesting that many players were unhappy with the lack of tactical instructions.
Bloated squad
Advertisement
Chelsea has spent over 600 million pounds this season. The squad consists of 32 footballers and to keep these many players happy and give them minutes consistently can be a headache for any manager. That seems to have clearly affected the players and the harmony in the dressing room. January signings Andrey Santos, Benoît Badiashile, David Datro Fofana and Noni Madueke were all left out of the Champions League squads.
It is not only the number that has been a problem, but the squad is also imbalanced. There seems to be a problem of plenty for one position and a drought in others.
Chelsea owner Todd Boehly applauds during the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Wolverhampton at Stamford Bridge stadium, in London. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
Chelsea will have to off-load a few players in the coming summer transfer window for their own good. However, the dilemma is that the value of the players they want to sell would have touched rock bottom after what has happened this season. The club may also have to sell some of their star players to their Premier League rivals to cover their losses as the rest of the leagues in Europe may not be in a position to afford them.
Why Frank Lampard again
The appointment of Potter after Tuchel seemed to indicate that Chelsea was looking at a long-term plan. “We weren’t sure Thomas [Tuchel] saw it the same way we saw it,” Boehly said after sacking the German. “No one’s right or wrong, we just didn’t have a shared vision for the future.”
However, sacking Potter and reappointing Lampard as an interim manager left many scratching their heads. It also raised questions about the direction the club wants to take.
Advertisement
Lampard’s first stint at Chelsea did not end well. After having a decent first season, the next one went horribly wrong for the club legend. The team had an identity crisis midway through the season and was lingering in mid-table, which got Lampard sacked. He averaged 1.75 points per match, not good enough for a side which aspires to compete for top honours.
Top Sports News Now
Click here for more
Managing a mid-table Everton side, Lampard’s points per game fell to 1.00. They fell from mid-table under Rafa Benitez to a relegation dogfight under Lampard, before he somehow managed to keep the club in the Premier League by a whisker. However, the poor form carried into the subsequent season and was sacked.
Also Read
Message in a bottle: How the water bottle helped Jordan Pickford make pen…
Watch: Cristiano Ronaldo loses temper after not being awarded a penalty i…
Messi set to play for his boyhood club Newell’s Old Boys on June 24
Adrian Mierzejewski mocks Ronaldo on social media after Al-Nassar's win o…Advertisement
Five Premier League games in the second spell so far have not gone well either as they are yet to register a win. The team seems to have gone further backwards . In the Champions League tie against Real Madrid, the gulf in quality between the two sides was clearly visible in terms of the tactics of the managers.
