Chelsea would have hoped, before the season even begun, that they were able to start the new campaign off to a flyer – they’ve achieved this with two wins out of two against opposition that, with all due respect, they should be defeating. Now they’re sitting pretty, with early bragging rights, at the top of the pile.
However, scintillating, expressive and just downright unflappable, they haven’t been, despite the six points gained and the good performances of their expensive summer signings. Whilst they maintain this winning feeling, everything will appear fine and dandy but Chelsea currently have the look of a team soon to come unstuck if they don’t addressing the underlying ‘gremlins’ in the mechanics.
The blues have only conceded two goals in two games yet even that is too many considering how resolute former Chelsea backlines have been. Many times, if Chelsea had taken a 1-0 lead, teams would have effectively conceded the game, such was the dominance of their defensive capabilities. Yesterday, newly-promoted Reading managed to break through twice in the space of 4 minutes. Even Wigan were able to put Chelsea under pressure for sustained periods on Sunday – but for a lack of a cutting edge, they may have profited from their endeavours.
It’s clear that Chelsea’s defence is still a problem area; perhaps it’s their inexorable reliance on John Terry to continually save the day even though the days of his prime are behind him; or possibly it’s the absence of strong protection from Lampard and Mikel in midfield that has so often left them overworked and unprotected.
Certainly, Chelsea will need to find some method of slamming the door shut on opponents whilst not retreating completely in the manner of their victories against Bayern Munich and Barcelona in last season’s Champions League.
Then, they had the huge figure – physically and figuratively – of Didier Drogba to pump the ball up to so he could pull some magic out of his ample top hat and provide the winning spark during tough games. Drogba has now moved on but it seems as if Chelsea have already handed over the magisterial sceptre to a new ‘Mr Reliable’ in 23 year old, Eden Hazard.
In just two matches, he already has 5 assists to his name and has been involved in everything positive on the pitch for the club, causing the players around him to recognise his immediate value. Noticeably, when Hazard is available – and he usually is – Chelsea immediately search him out, appreciating his directness and ability to affect a game with every touch he has.
It’s an understandable tactic; if you have a great player on form, you go to him with the chances you can muster. Still, Chelsea can’t allow their football to become too reliant on one man because then it raises the inquiry over what they can expect if the player becomes injured or suspended? Already, Chelsea appear as if they may suffer the consequences if Hazard isn’t involved in each of their matches. Di Matteo would definitely like for more of his players to get involved in the attack play rather than Hazard monopolising the assists and praying that Ivanovic becomes top goalscorer.
The pressure for Torres to score goals has been alleviated somewhat by the Ivanovic’s efforts and Lampard’s penalties; Torres himself even managed to notch a debatable goal late on against Reading. Though, Torres still isn’t up to the old capers of his Liverpool days where he was capable of picking up possession and creating a chance by himself, out of nothing.
Even though he managed to get a goal yesterday, television replays showed that he was potentially offside and the ball was laid on a plate for him by Ashley Cole, to tap into an empty net. Is this what it’s going to take to make Torres a 25 goals striker again?
Drogba’s influence can never be underestimated in that he was, essentially, the Torres of Chelsea – therein lay the problem with compatibility between the two players. Now that Drogba is gone, Torres needs to somehow step up to the mark because with two goals scored from the penalty spot and three from defenders, Chelsea may look to invest in a more impactful striking option that will see him benched again.
Di Matteo will possibly be best served buying another frontman anyway for want of a backup at least. Torres may or may not be capable of playing 90 minutes in every single game but who do they have to turn to with Drogba’s successor, Belgian Romelu Lukaku, loaned over to West Brom? Now, once again, the weight of expectation is back on Chelsea’s number 9 which will not help him in his quest to rediscover his emphatic form.
A few days back, I wrote an article in which I mentioned that wins ‘paper over cracks’ – this idiom appears particularly pertinent in describing Chelsea’s current form. Chelsea have coped well having scored early and fortune favouring them against ‘lesser’ opposition but it’s uncertain whether they would have been capable of achieving such a solid start had they come up against some of the bigger sides in the Premiership.
Until we see Di Matteo’s men survive tougher tasks, it will be difficult to predict what they can accomplish this season.
What do Chelsea need to do to improve?
image: © Ben Sutherland
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