5 areas that Chelsea need to improve

Chelsea fans’ ecstasy at winning the double this year can hardly be contained. Though they failed to win the FA cup and progress to the quarter-finals of Champions League, they redeemed themselves by winning the prestigious Premier League title and the Capital One Cup.The big question, however, is if Chelsea can continue its success and win more titles this year. With the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal bolstering their squads, the title race is going to be much tighter this year.It is for sure not going to be the 8-point dominant victory Chelsea had last season. The Blues also have to show more in the attacking sense and stop ‘Parking the Bus’ as other teams call it. Chelsea could also afford to play two strikers up front and try to be as unpredictable as possible. Here are a few areas where they can improve:

#1 Direct free kicks

Chelsea have had a number of great free kick takers in the past. From legends like Drogba and Lampard (15 goals together in free kicks) to rising stars like David Luiz and Juan Mata, there have been some amazing free kick goals we have seen over the years. There were a number of free kicks which turned out to be match winners for Chelsea.

Now though, they have Oscar and Fabregas who apart from a rare sensation fail to score frequently from direct freekicks. Chelsea scored only 3 goals from free kicks last season.This is less considering the fact that there were a lot of free kicks won by Hazard and Costa outside the penalty box.

Chelsea especially need a player who is a left-footed dead ball specialist. Filipe Luis' move to Atletico Madrid. With that there would be no option for taking free kicks with the left foot.

The likes of Fabregas, Oscar and even Willian should improve their free kick accuracy if Chelsea are to win more convincingly and get past the big teams such as Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich who have stars lining up to take advantage of situations where their team needs a player to convert from freekicks.

#2 Better crossing

Chelsea holds the record for the third-least number of crosses per game in the Premier League (2014/2015) with a crosses/game ratio at 18. Only Liverpool and Swansea had a lower ratio of 17. Most of their goals have been through drives into the penalty area or from corners. With the quality of defenders increasing, it is going to get harder and harder to go through the line of defense with drives or intelligent through balls.

Hazard takes on people and drives into the box, while Willian stays in and around the box looking for the moment to unleash his shot. As a result, both these players are in the box, along with Costa. Thus, quality balls need to be delivered to get these three players to score. The responsibility falls on the fullbacks, Ivanovic and Azpilicueta.

Ivanovic does send balls into the box, but most of them lack quality. On the other hand, Azpilicueta plays very defensively and hardly crosses the ball. If Ivanovic and Azpilicueta start pinging quality balls into the box, more opportunities would be created to score goals. Also, even if a quality cross is cleared by the defender, there is a high chance for the ball to fall at the feet of another Chelsea player.

#3 Finding a good right winger

Hazard has been extremely effective on the left wing for Chelsea, but the players on the right wing have often disappointed. Hazard has a high passing rate in the final third and creates a lot of chances.

Moreover, he runs at defenders and wins free kicks for the team by being fouled. He hardly loses the ball, and this one quality is what separates the good players from a great players like him. Willian has made good attacking runs from the defensive end of the field but has often lost the ball due to his indecisiveness and lack of quick thought. Mourinho’s teams have always been known to be extremely fast with counter-attacks. If this team is to be a good counter-attacking team, Willian has to step up in the final third and make the best decision. In the same way, Cuadrado has to do the same as Willian.

Though Cuadrado has played very few minutes this season, he hasn’t looked great and has often looked weak. He has to prove himself and play more minutes. If Willian and Cuadrado play to their potential, the team as a whole would look a lot better playing offensively and will challenge to be among top teams in the world.

#4 Good attitude

There have been a number of instances where Chelsea have given up their lead in games to draw level or even lose. The games against Paris Saint-Germain and Bradford City were instances where we gave up comfortable leads. In the game against Paris, they lost despite playing against 10 men and leading by a goal. That was the day everyone witnessed this weakness in Chelsea.

As for the game against Bradford City, Chelsea gave up a 2-0 lead to end up losing 4-2. They just switched off after getting the lead and it cost them dearly. They ended up being knocked out of the FA Cup by the minnows. If Chelsea is going to have to win the big games this year, they have to keep on trying to score and pile pressure on the opposition.

There were also a lot of games in the second half of the season where Chelsea looked tired and lacked the goal scoring hunger they should have as a team challenging for titles. A reason for this could also be the fact that Mourinho has used the fewest number of players this year in the Premier League. The rotation of players must take place so that the team continues to put up strong performances.

#5 Defending during corners

Goals from David Luiz and Thiago Silva in the 86th minute and 114th minute respectively, ensured that Chelsea were knocked out of the Champions League. They also conceded against Shrewsbury to make it tight in the Capital One Cup game and dropped points against Burnley in what was an easy game to win.

In fact, Mourinho joked that his side's problems defending corners were so bad that a training ground dummy might be able to find the net against them. In the 2013-2014 season they conceded a high percentage of goals from corners. The 2014-2015 season was an improvement, but they still have to work harder.

While in the past Chelsea have displayed a keen prowess at defending corners, last season was a step in the other direction as the marking of players in such situation was often complacent and left a lot to be desired.