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The year 2022 has brought mixed developments for European champions Chelsea FC with regards to the form of some of their players. Some of them have been inconsistent in recent times.
The Blues lifted the FIFA Club World Cup trophy in the month of February after defeating Brazilian club side Palmieras by 2-1.
However, Chelsea have also suffered a Carabao Cup final defeat to Liverpool, and were knocked out of the Champions league by Real Madrid on April 12.
While their form as a team has somewhat improved in recent weeks, some players have been relatively poor so far in 2022.
This article will thus be taking a look at three Chelsea players who haven't been at their very best this year, in no particular order.
#1 Edouard Mendy
The Senegalese shot-stopper used to be a source of refuge for Chelsea in between the sticks. This was especially the case last season and towards the early part of the new campaign.
His good form led to him being dubbed "Mr. Cleansheet" as it was almost impossible to get the ball past Mendy on a good day.
However, that hasn't really been the case this season, especially in 2022. Mendy is now prone to making a couple of avoidable errors which has led to Chelsea conceding a couple of times.
His positioning has been called into question in a couple of games, and he seems to be less confident in his abilities in between the sticks.
Mendy has conceded 23 goals in the Premier League alone this season in 27 games, keeping only 12 cleansheets.
He was greatly exposed against Real Madrid in the two legs of the Champions League quarterfinals. He also fumbled against Arsenal in the Blues' recent EPL match. Clearly, the goalkeeper is going through a tough patch.
#2 Ngolo Kante
The French midfielder hasn't really been at his best for Chelsea since the start of 2022. Some fans are even raising questions about his future at Stamford bridge.
He is often seen as the engine room of Chelsea's midfield, but that hasn't been the case in recent weeks. Kante used to be a player who was regarded as almost perfect.
The diminutive midfielder has looked relatively average in games, especially by his standards.
Against Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, Kante failed to show his dominance in midfield across the two legs.
He was substituted by Mateo Kovacic after 45 minutes in the first leg. He was also guilty of inadvertently helping Real Madrid in their two goals at the Santiago Bernabeu a week later.
Kante was also very ineffective in his team's most recent game against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge, which the Blues lost 2-4.
The Chelsea midfielder failed to close down Granit Xhaka during the build-up to Arsenal's second goal in the game. He was also clearly dominated by the Gunners' midfield.
#3 Romelu Lukaku
The Blues' £97.5 million record signing has had a very poor debut season for his team, and things haven't improved in 2022.
The Belgian striker is yet to score a league goal this year and only made his first league start for Chelsea against Arsenal after several weeks on the bench.
Lukaku is one of those Blues' players who are struggling at the moment. Even his manager Tuchel has admitted that the striker has been disappointing so far and needs to redeem himself.
He has also been guilty of being unobtrusive in games, as well as wasting clear cut goal scoring chances for the Blues.
Against Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final clash, Lukaku had the chance to reduce his team's goal deficit heading into the second leg. But he missed a clear header.
Lukaku also missed a clear-cut chance in the FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace after Timo Werner had brilliantly laid the ball in his path. He couldn't finish the opportunity and struck the woodwork.
In the game against Arsenal recently, Lukaku was relatively ineffective upfront as he made little or no effort to add spark to the team's attacking display.
He has scored just 10 goals in 35 appearances for Chelsea in all competitions this season.
