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Chelsea lost 0-2 against Everton last Sunday in a Premier League match, and now are at the 6th position in the league table. They have collected 57 points from 30 matches, and are one short of 5th placed Manchester United.
Moreover, it was Chelsea’s 7th defeat in the Premier League this season, which means that they have lost more than 25% of their matches in the league. They have also lost to Manchester United in the FA Cup.
Should they finish outside the top 4 in the league, and thereby fail to qualify for the Champions League for the second successive season, Maurizio Sarri’s position at the club would become very awkward.
Sarri was appointed as the Chelsea manager at the beginning of the season, but has not been fully successful in meeting the expectations of the club’s supporters so far.
We would now take a look at the 3 reasons why Chelsea have lost so many matches this season:
1. Inept defending inside own penalty box
Chelsea have largely suffered because of the poor defending of their defenders inside their own penalty box. Antonio Rudiger has been the pick of their defenders so far, but even he has failed to make clean tackles in and around the box. David Luiz, on the other hand, always looks a bit shaky while defending deep, and has committed some costly errors in the defensive third.
Moreover, Chelsea’s full-backs Marcos Alonso and Cezar Azpilicueta have also not performed very well this season. Alonso’s needless foul against Everton won the latter a penalty, which they duly converted. Azpilicueta also seems more comfortable while going forward.
Because of all the above reasons, Chelsea have conceded many goals in some of the matches. They conceded six against City and four against Bournemouth. Each of Arsenal and United have scored two goals against them. Chelsea have not played in the Champions League this season, and therefore, did not have to play against the continental giants. Otherwise, they might have conceded even more goals.
It remains to be seen whether Sarri has got any remedy for the defensive frailties of his team.
2. Their midfield lacks creativity and genuine ball-players
There has been a serious lack of creativity in Chelsea's midfield, as they have played 2 defensive midfielders in a 4-3-3 formation. N'Golo Kante has played as a central midfielder in order to accommodate Jorginho as a defensive one.
Both Jorginho and Kante have actually chipped in with a few goals, but that has not been enough for Chelsea. Matteo Kovacic and Ross Barkley have played as the other central midfielder, but they are comfortable playing box-to-box and thereby put their strength and speed to good use. But they are not genuine ball-players and cannot win a game on their own.
Barkley has scored 8 goals this season so far, and Kovacic is yet to score any for Chelsea. This is in stark contrast with former Chelsea midfielders like Frank Lampard, who used to average around 20 goals per season.
Chelsea could think of giving more playing minutes to the likes of Hudson-Odoi and Willian, who seem to possess more creativity and better skillsets.
3. Forwards not contributing enough defensively
The Chelsea forwards have not contributed enough defensively. They usually do not press the opposition defenders much, and are not used to falling back to the middle third either.
As a result, Chelsea have often lacked in numbers in the middle third, and their opponents have taken advantage of that. Both Higuain and Pedro are on the wrong side of 30, and not very comfortable dropping down very frequently.
Moreover, Eden Hazard prefers to stay in the wing and cut in from there, but avoids his defensive duties sometimes. Also, Chelsea's front line concedes possession too easily at times, and do not press immediately after that. That is in stark contrast with a team like Barcelona, whose forwards press very high to win the ball back.
Barcelona have also been playing a 4-3-3 for more than a decade now, but their high-press allows them to retain the ball more frequently in the final third.
