Chelsea's Biggest Flaw This Season
When the final whistle blew at the KCOM Stadium, after an FA Cup win against Championship-side Hull City, relief, rather than excitement, was on the face of Frank Lampard. Why? Because he watched his side completely dominate the first half, but fail to put the game beyond doubt and they nearly got the win snatched away from them because of it. Hull were employing the high press, with 3 forwards, but midfielder Mateo Kovacic was given plenty of time to pick his passes, and picked Hull apart all half, starting attack after attack. Both Ross Barkley and Mason Mount missed clear 1 on 1 opportunities against the keeper, and Cesar Azpilicueta and Michy Batshuayi forced saves out of George Long, who was in good form today. Batshuayi managed to open the scoring early on via a deflected shot, but Hull were still very much in the game at halftime. In the 2nd half, Hull dominated the first 15 minutes of the 2nd half, and Chelsea were very much on the back foot against Championship opposition. It took a nice Fikayo Tomori header from a set-piece to give Chelsea some control at 2-0, and then Pedro missed 2 good opportunities to secure the win. Hull went on to score a very lucky goal to make it 2-1, a free kick which deflected off Kovacic, who jumped very awkwardly while turning away, and found its way into the side netting. This set up a very nervy final 15 minutes for the Blues, culminating in a last-minute corner which Long went up for. What should have been a comfortable win ended up being quite the opposite, and it could have been so different. If Mount and Barkley had converted their chances, the game would have been killed off, and Chelsea would've coasted to a win, which would've allowed them to rest key players such as Azpilicueta and Kovacic, but they had to fight to the end for a win.
This issue of not being able to take their chances and kill games off has been a familiar sight for Lampard and Chelsea. Barring losses to Manchester City and Liverpool, and of course the 4-0 loss to Manchester United on the first day of the season, they have largely dominated most of the games they have dropped points in. If you look back at all of the games in which Chelsea have not won this season, you can see the amount of times they have dropped points because of late goals. Draws against Sheffield, Arsenal, and Brighton and losses against Bournemouth and Newcastle have all contained goals conceded after the 80th minute. In every one of these games, Chelsea have dominated possession, and created chances to win the game. Against Brighton, they were unfortunate to concede from a fantastic bicycle kick by Alireza Jahanbakhsh, but in every other game, the goals conceded were certainly preventable. However, the games should have been put beyond doubt long ago. If a team has already built a comfortable 2 or 3-goal lead, then a last-minute goal is annoying for the defence and manager, but it is not a crushing blow. But when a team has missed many chances and failed to capitalise on their domination, a last-minute goal is demoralizing, and most importantly, it costs the team much-needed points. Had they not conceded any of these late goals, Chelsea would be 2nd. Now they are in a race for 4th.
The problem with not being able to finish off your chances and keeping the game tight, is that it means you become dependent on your defence and goalkeeper to keep clean sheets, and for Chelsea, that has certainly not been the case. The defence has conceded 32 goals this season, which is not terrible, but not good enough to base your gameplan around defence. Nor is that the case for the Blues. Lampard has an attacking approach, but one which is being properly executed without the finishing touch, or at times, not being properly executed at all, as in the losses to Southampton and Everton. As long as the quality of the players is up to the mark, possession will almost always lead to chances. Taking those chances, and enough of them, is how Chelsea will win games.
This is why Lampard is very eager to bring in a new striker this month, with world-class finisher Edinson Cavani being thought of as a potential signing. If he can come in and take some of the scoring burden off of Tammy Abraham, who has been struggling a little lately, then Chelsea will be able to return to their earlier form, which saw them win 6 consecutive games in the league.
Either that, or Batshuayi begins to step up in the league, or Mount rediscovers his goalscoring touch, or wingers Willian and Callum Hudson-Odoi begin to chip in with more goals. The point is something has to change. If they continue to not be clinical and keep teams in the game, it will cost them in the long run. Chelsea have been fortunate that their dip in form has coincided with many other teams' dips in form, which means they still have a 6-point cushion in 4th place. Learning to put games beyond doubt will solidify this position, and help ensure that they are in the Champions League next season.
This issue of not being able to take their chances and kill games off has been a familiar sight for Lampard and Chelsea. Barring losses to Manchester City and Liverpool, and of course the 4-0 loss to Manchester United on the first day of the season, they have largely dominated most of the games they have dropped points in. If you look back at all of the games in which Chelsea have not won this season, you can see the amount of times they have dropped points because of late goals. Draws against Sheffield, Arsenal, and Brighton and losses against Bournemouth and Newcastle have all contained goals conceded after the 80th minute. In every one of these games, Chelsea have dominated possession, and created chances to win the game. Against Brighton, they were unfortunate to concede from a fantastic bicycle kick by Alireza Jahanbakhsh, but in every other game, the goals conceded were certainly preventable. However, the games should have been put beyond doubt long ago. If a team has already built a comfortable 2 or 3-goal lead, then a last-minute goal is annoying for the defence and manager, but it is not a crushing blow. But when a team has missed many chances and failed to capitalise on their domination, a last-minute goal is demoralizing, and most importantly, it costs the team much-needed points. Had they not conceded any of these late goals, Chelsea would be 2nd. Now they are in a race for 4th.
The problem with not being able to finish off your chances and keeping the game tight, is that it means you become dependent on your defence and goalkeeper to keep clean sheets, and for Chelsea, that has certainly not been the case. The defence has conceded 32 goals this season, which is not terrible, but not good enough to base your gameplan around defence. Nor is that the case for the Blues. Lampard has an attacking approach, but one which is being properly executed without the finishing touch, or at times, not being properly executed at all, as in the losses to Southampton and Everton. As long as the quality of the players is up to the mark, possession will almost always lead to chances. Taking those chances, and enough of them, is how Chelsea will win games.
This is why Lampard is very eager to bring in a new striker this month, with world-class finisher Edinson Cavani being thought of as a potential signing. If he can come in and take some of the scoring burden off of Tammy Abraham, who has been struggling a little lately, then Chelsea will be able to return to their earlier form, which saw them win 6 consecutive games in the league.
Either that, or Batshuayi begins to step up in the league, or Mount rediscovers his goalscoring touch, or wingers Willian and Callum Hudson-Odoi begin to chip in with more goals. The point is something has to change. If they continue to not be clinical and keep teams in the game, it will cost them in the long run. Chelsea have been fortunate that their dip in form has coincided with many other teams' dips in form, which means they still have a 6-point cushion in 4th place. Learning to put games beyond doubt will solidify this position, and help ensure that they are in the Champions League next season.
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