There were some confusions when we saw what happened to Chelsea nowadays. We might seen that it would appear to be normal for Chelsea to be mediocre when during beginning of the season. However, Chelsea is slowly showing their capacity as a club that needs to be taken into account in the race for the top 4 standings in the EPL. This can be proven by their success in the top 4 positions until week 17 that took place. However, over time we can see that Chelsea does have difficulties. What really happened to Chelsea?
The Blues can actually be called a dark horse in the English League, even in the Champions League. The first factor is because of the new coach, Frank Lampard. The second factor is the composition of Chelsea players who are partly inhabited by young players. Call it Mason-Mount, Kourt Zouma, Andreas Christensen, Hudson-Odoi, Christian Pulisic, and the Tammy Abraham bomber.
The six players even began to dominate the minutes of playing at Chelsea which made some senior players have to be willing to sit on the bench. Like Pedro and Olivier Giroud. In fact, among the young players also took turns playing each other, like in the latest match against Bournemouth in London. Hudson-Odoi had to play from the bench, and Pulisic had to leave the field to be replaced by Kovacic.
This internal competition is actually good for Lampard and Chelsea’s strategy, but also sometimes cause bad luck. Because, no matter how good the game presented by Lampard with Chelsea, at any time they can be defeated because of disadvantage. One of them happened in the previous match with Bournemouth.
Those who actually dominate the game, must surrender with sharp attacks more fortunate opponents – a goal. This also happened when entertaining West Ham where they were defeated because of West Ham’s attack which was able to take advantage of the Chelsea defense inadvertence early in the second half. In that match Chelsea were very dominant, but failed to defeat their opponents.
Examples of these two matches make Chelsea like a team that is difficult to say bad but must have lost 6 times in the 17 matches that have been undertaken. However, on the other hand, they were able to carve 9 wins (only losing to Liverpool, Leicester, and Man. City) which makes them still have a reason to be in the top 4 until week 17. Azpilicueta et al. still there (29 points) if Manchester United carry out their 17th match with victory.
However, when compared to MU, Chelsea showed its weakness in defense. Evidently, they have conceded 25 goals even though they were able to score 31 goals. Aside from defense factors, they are also mentioned as being minimal in terms of mentality and leadership. In the back line, only the captain left, Azpilicueta in coordinating the defense and has a high experience record at Chelsea. But when the Spanish full back did over laps, Chelsea did not have another defender able to coordinate the defense when he had to counterattack.
This weakness will be easily seen when Chelsea face clubs in the Champions League. Because, there every club will try to perform an all-out, while Chelsea are still quite difficult to maintain focus, even though they are able to control the game in every game. Frank Lampard is a former midfielder who has a vision of playing well in his time. So, it’s not surprising that Chelsea’s game can be said to be good.
Chelsea also do not have the depth of a capable squad, especially on the front lines. They are currently too dependent on Tammy’s productivity. When the young players from the Chelsea academy dropout did not play, the Chelsea game became less sharp (read: effective) in utilizing the creation of opportunities that are actually not small. One example is Giroud. This senior French striker will only come in handy when the team plays very collectively and trusts in his capacity as a top ball gore and bouncer.
Unfortunately, so far the role of the player is less visible, because Lampard seems more suited to playing with a more agile forward, and it still depends on the figure of Tammy. Actually there is still Michy Batshuayi. However, its productivity is still inferior to Tammy. So, it never hurts for Lampard to maximize Tammy’s potential.
However, with confidence in Tammy, it is difficult for Chelsea to produce victory, even when Tammy is there. The opposing team will also start to know about Chelsea’s strengths, so they also try to reduce the excess and make Chelsea like they are in a floating zone. However, being called a mediocre is also inappropriate. So, what needs to be done by connoisseurs of English football at this time is only to be faithfully waiting for the process that is carried out by Lampard with his players at Chelsea until this season is complete.
ASL
