Chelsea hosted Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on Saturday as teams high in confidence and in great form collided.
The Blues had yet to taste defeat across all competitions thus far this season and had also yet to concede from open play in the league. However, against a hyper-pressing Man City on the day, Chelsea and Thomas Tuchel just could not find a solution on the pitch. The Blues ultimately succumbed to a 1-0 loss after Gabriel Jesus’ deflected shot found the back of the net early in the second half.
Here are three lessons learnt from Chelsea’s one-goal defeat to the Citizens.
1. No need to overreact just yet
The Blues did not play well on the day. This is an undisputed fact considering just how flat the team was prior to the game’s opening goal. Registering zero shots on target across the 90’ and starved of possession for large parts of the game, the extent of City’s dominance was evident. The players clinically executed what was the perfect game plan from Pep Guardiola.
Questions certainly can be asked of Tuchel’s lack of proactiveness in the form of halftime substitutions considering how poor his team played in the first half. However, it is worth noting that it took a perfect game plan from Guardiola—coupled with a hefty slice of luck in terms of the goal—that his team did score for Chelsea to be beaten. This is not to mention the obvious quality of personnel that Guardiola has at his disposal for his game plan to be executed perfectly in the first place. The point to be made here is that while Man City was undeniably better on the day, how many other teams in the league can put up this level of performance against the Blues?
Moreover, looking at the overall picture in terms of the current league table, Chelsea is still clearly in the mix for the Premier League title this season. With 32 league matches to come, it is early days and the players will do well to take the loss against Man City as a stern wake-up call before dusting themselves off and going again.
2. A disjointed attack
While it is true that the Blues have done well this season across various competitions, it is also undeniable that this team has still yet to put together a perfect 90’ since the Champions League final last season. Across the pitch, nowhere is this lack of cohesion more evident than in the attack. Perhaps this is due to the constant chopping and changing of forwards starting along Romelu Lukaku, or perhaps this is a result of the inconvenient timing of the international break.
Either way, Chelsea’s attack has looked lacklustre at best and a complete mess otherwise. Bringing in a world class No. 9 was supposed to resolve the Blues’ goalscoring issues this season. Looking at the raw goal-scoring data, it appears as if Tuchel has managed to circumvent this problem for good.
However, closer inspection would reveal that outside of Lukaku’s four goals this season, no other forward has scored more than once. This paints a clear picture that Chelsea’s forwards have simply not been pulling their weight this season. While the sheer quality of the side has helped the team through lesser opposition prior to Saturday, the match against Man City highlighted the Blues’ deficiencies up top once again. Opting to start with a duo of Timo Werner and Lukaku to allow for greater midfield solidarity, the lack of chemistry between the two forwards was painfully obvious. While the quality of the opposition has to be taken into account, the fact that this was the first time the duo has started together certainly counted against them, as well.
Chemistry between forwards have always been difficult to cultivate and perhaps Tuchel should consider sticking with a preferred forward line for the time being to allow for a better understanding to develop with time.
3. The return of Ruben Loftus-Cheek
It has been well over a year since Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s last Premier League appearance for Chelsea, which came on September 14, 2020 against Brighton at the start of last season. Having looked absolutely lost and off the pace when he came on in the 61′ of the match, his subsequent loan to Fulham did not go particularly well either. Scott Parker’s Fulham ultimately suffered relegation with the Englishman powerless to stop the rot that beset the team post-Christmas, despite featuring in 31 league matches.
Things were not looking good for Loftus-Cheek and Tuchel’s desire to bring in another midfielder in the form of Saul Niguez at the end of the transfer window was seen as an indictment of his lack of faith in the Englishman.
Hence, to witness the 25-year-old start the previous game in the Carabao Cup and to see him come on against Man City with the manager desperate for a renewed spark, was heartwarming, to say the least. Even more impressive has been Loftus-Cheek’s performance itself, which is indicative of a player that has finally rediscovered his mojo. From the little flicks round the corner and the ability to step across and shield the ball in the face of Man City’s high press, the England international is slowly but surely getting closer to being back to his very best. It will be fascinating to see Loftus-Cheek battle it out with Saul for the fourth midfield spot throughout the season. In the meantime, let us take some time to celebrate the tiny miracle of seeing Loftus-Cheek back in the blue of Chelsea once again.