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As teams flew out for the third international break of the season in the first week of the November, things looked rosy and sunny at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea were on a six-match winning streak, level on points with second-placed Leicester City and remarkably a point ahead of defending champions Manchester City. Having had a transfer ban, lost Eden Hazard, and appointing an inexperienced manager in Frank Lampard, the Blues found themselves in a situation that even the most optimistic fan could not have imagined.
However, since then, things have gone from bad to worse for the West London club as they have lost four of their last five league games. While a spirited defeat at the Etihad Stadium raised expectations, defeats to struggling West Ham, Everton, and Bournemouth is a matter of huge concern for Lampard's team. All three of them came into the match in a bad run of form and by all means, barely faced a challenge from Chelsea.
With a busy and tough fixture list coming up over the next couple of months, alarm bells are bound to ring in amongst the Stamford Bridge faithful. Here is a look what has suddenly gone wrong for the Europa League holders.
#3 Mason Mount's form
In modern-day football, the number 10 role has increasingly become a redundant one. Year after year, one is seeing lesser and lesser coaches play a formation that accommodates one. The best teams around like Liverpool and Manchester City do not play with one. Quite simply put, it is an extremely luxurious position and by playing one, teams risk losing balance in midfield
However, Lampard has decided to use one at Chelsea and given the responsibility to Mason Mount. In the Blue's 'youth revolution', Mount was one of the early stars of Chelsea's season as he scored four league goals in the first eight games. His energy, high-pressing, work rate, and movement were crucial in helping the Blues play an intense and attractive brand of football.
However, the former Derby loanee's form has faded as the season progressed and has only one goal to his name since the 6th of August. There also remain big questions marks over his overall contribution to the game. So far this season, Mount has only 26 key passes and 27 chances created to his name as per data on 'FotMob'. His contribution fades significantly to other young English attacking midfielders in the league like James Maddison (43 key passes and 47 chances created) and Jack Grealish (37 key passes and 41 chances created). Kevin De Bruyne, who is the gold standard in this position, currently has made 62 key passes and created 71 chances.
A 20-year-old player having periods of inconsistency is hardly surprising. Without any doubt, Mount has an extremely bright future ahead of him but for a club like Chelsea, the present is just as important. With Ross Barkley barely having anyone's trust and Ruben Loftus-Cheek's continued absence from injury, Lampard barely has any options in attacking-midfield. Hence, Mount recovering his form and improving his game is extremely crucial for the Blues.
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#2 Home form
A hallmark of any successful team is their ability to make their home stadium a 'fortress.' No club knows it better than Chelsea, who comfortably hold the biggest unbeaten home streak in Premier League history, having been undefeated for 85 games for a period that lasted for over three years between 2004 and 2007. But those days are long gone and the current campaign has seen the Blues be constantly lacklustre at home.
Last week's loss to Bournemouth was Chelsea's third home league defeat of the season, having previously lost to Liverpool and West Ham. They have also dropped points at Stamford Bridge in stalemates to Leicester City and Sheffield United. All in all, the Blues have taken only 14 of the available 27 points and not scored more than two goals in any league match at their home turf so far.
Moreover, even in the Champions League, the situation has been more or less the same. Lampard's side only won one of their three group stage games at home and their league cup elimination to Manchester United happened at Stamford Bridge.
While an extremely impressive away record has ensured that the Blues were not badly affected, that is hardly sustainable as they have been figured out over the last month. Chelsea's home form is simply unacceptable and that is something they need to immediately address, or it could quickly become the reason behind them not finishing in the top-four.
#1 Defensive frailties
While this season Chelsea have largely impressed with some scintillating attacking football, the defensive side of the game has left a lot to be desired. Even during their winning run, they looked extremely shaky at the back. So far this season, Lampard's men have only kept four clean sheets across all competitions. Only Arsenal (27) have conceded more goals than the West London outfit's 25 in the league.
With Antonio Rudiger's absence, Lampard has been unable to settle on a centre-back pairing. While Fikayo Tomori has been the revelation of the season, he has had a few mistakes in him and neither Andreas Christensen nor Kurt Zouma have impressed. The Blues have conceded a huge number of goals through set-pieces or aerial balls in the box. The inability of Chelsea defenders to win headers has become a huge cause of concern and the absence of a leader in the back-line is more evident than ever.
Making things worse has been goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, who has looked a shadow of the player he was last year. The Spaniard has the second-lowest save percentage (56%) of any keeper in England's first division and has conceded numerous questionable goals. He has struggled to command the box and even lacked confidence on the ball, which was seen as his biggest strength in his first season at the club.
No team can achieve any sort of success being as vulnerable defensively as Chelsea are. Sorting the problem out is Lampard's biggest managerial test so far and the factor that is going to make or break Chelsea's season.
