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There is this widespread misconception among a lot of a people that signing a world-class striker would solve Chelsea’s problems and get them their league title. I decided to write this article to give my view on the different problems Chelsea are facing right now.
Prior to writing this article, I conducted a survey, where I asked a few of my friends about how much they would rate Ramires on a scale of 1-10 and why? The answers were as expected, most of them gave him a rating of 5-7, as I would have. Ramires for me is a hard-working player who gives 100% whenever he has played for Chelsea but he cannot be more than a squad player. He has all the qualities to be a good box to box midfielder but that is not what Chelsea need right now.
The problem for Chelsea is that they need someone to partner Nemanja Matic. There is no one in the team to link defense to attack, which is the most important phase in any team, the transition phase. Ramires’s passing, poor ball retention and his poor decision-making only add to the woes .
Having Ramires in the team alongside Matic as a midfield pivot ensures almost zero creativity as there is no one to dictate the tempo in midfield. This lack of a creative general in midfield has forced Chelsea into adopting a one-dimensional style of football; the lack of a proper link in midfield has forced them to opt for a more direct counterattacking approach and sometimes an increased dependency on their star man Eden Hazard.
Eden Hazard had a different second season at Chelsea compared to his first season. Jose Mourinho has tried to make Eden Hazard a much more complete player by making him the team’s creative head in the final third. But how has this affected Chelsea?
The above image is a comparison between Hazard’s second season and his first season at Chelsea. While he has been nurtured into a more complete player for Chelsea, his impact was no more direct; especially in the second half of the season. Ever since the sale of Juan Mata and Oscar’s dip in form, Hazard has been offered the creative role at Chelsea and he definitely has done justice to it but at the cost of his direct impact.
In the first half of his second season Eden Hazard scored 9 goals and had 5 assists. This was when he had the role of a left winger/ inside forward in the team and the creativity task was given to Oscar and Mata. However he managed to score only 5 goals in the League in the second half of his season of which 3 were penalties. Both the open play goals he scored came against Newcastle United on the 8th of February. After that Hazard wasn’t able to score a goal from open play in all competitions.
The above picture shows Chelsea’s results which actually cost them the season, It isn’t a coincidence that Chelsea dropped points against smaller teams post January. The problem was the lack of a proper creative play maker in the team and they were clearly missing the direct impact provided by Eden Hazard.
It makes for good reading, as Chelsea won against all but one of the above mentioned teams in the reverse fixtures.
Against the same opposition in the first half of the season, they managed to get 5 wins and a draw dropping just 2 points out of a possible 18 compared to them dropping 14 points of a possible 18 in the second half of the season.The lack of a natural play maker and the significantly reduced directness of Eden Hazard are the primary reasons for the results in the second half of the season..
A possible solution for Chelsea is to sign a midfielder to partner Matic; someone who can dictate the tempo of the game, act as a link between defense and attack and someone who could offer creativity. Another important signing Chelsea need to make is that of an attacking midfielder/ advanced play maker who would be the primary creative head of the team. Both these signings would reduce the increased burden on Eden Hazard, allowing him to perform better in his natural role of a left winger/ inside forward and add a new dimension to Chelsea’s approach.
Another huge problem Chelsea have are their fullbacks. As the game constantly evolves, wingers drift further inside leaving abundant space for their full back partners to run into. Only very few teams stick to traditional wingers whose job is to get past his opposition fullback and cross. Most of the teams are adopting an approach where wingers are more direct.
Chelsea have used a right back as a left back and a centre back at right back. This causes problems for Chelsea because while Azpilicueta and Ivanovic have been sensational in terms of their defensive duties they have been below average when they move forward.
Azpilicueta is restricted to doing two things every time he gets forward. He has either to swing his weaker foot and hope his cross is met by a teammate inside the box or he has to shift onto his right foot before crossing, which makes him very predictable. Ivanovic on the other hand has been really solid defensively but his crossing has been really poor and he has been very rigid whenever he’s gone forward.
The above image shows a comparison between Azpilicueta and 3 left backs who played very crucial roles for their teams.
A possible solution would be to sign a top quality left back who can contribute both in attacking and defending. Azpilicueta has been a revelation this season playing in a position that isn’t his natural one; given more regular chances at right back he would add a lot of balance to the team.
The last problem for Chelsea is the one that is being talked about a lot; the lack of a world-class striker. The video below is a brilliant analysis by Gary Neville on Chelsea FC’s Striker Demba BA and he also tells you exactly what they are missing in the attacking department.
Conclusion: Chelsea is definitely a team in transition not just because of the new manager who has come in but because of the problems discussed above. They need to make those 3-4 important signings in order to push for the title. Mourinho has switched to a system where he uses his wingers for creativity and plays his 10 in a more direct role.
Whether he did that because of the players he had at his disposal or because that’s his philosophy remains unanswered. Apart from just signing a world-class striker, Chelsea need to change their one-dimensional approach which can only be achieved by signing the right set of players.
Stats and comparisons courtesy Squawka.com
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