A lot of Chelsea fans are expecting their team to be competing with European Giants like Manchester City and Liverpool neck to neck for the EPL title but little did they are thinking of structuring their defense.
The fans are adamant that Chelsea is destined for glory in this upcoming 2020-21 season. This transfer season has seen Chelsea coming with new huge additions of Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner to the squad.
With the likes of Pulisic, Giroud, Hudson Odoi already firing up, these already two proven talents of Europe will have a recipe for lots of goals. Moreover, Kai Havertz of Bayer Leverkusen is yet to join.
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The high voltage attack follows with an utter poor defense line of Chelsea.
The current issues plaguing the defensive department will unbalance the structure of the team unless Lampard goes for a defender like Napoli’s Koulibaly or PSG’s experienced defender Thiago Silva.
In the previous season, Chelsea has been inconsistent defensively and was exposed at the back from time to time.
The team was seen going forward brilliantly on their day, but equally horrible in defense when the opposition pressure builds up.
Lampard’s Defensive Lapse?
Lampard’s Chelsea loves to play with a very offensive system. He prefers using his full-backs to provide more width higher up the pitch.
In his usual 4-3-3 formation, two of the midfielders carry out the given attacking role while the other one is stationed in front of the two center backs.
The space left by the midfielders and full-backs is exploited extensively by the opposition as soon as the Blues lose their possession. This makes the defenders trackback with little to no time to get reinforcements.
The team desperately pulls out some last-ditch tackles to prevent the counter-attack which highly costs them sometimes.
Chelsea has not made any major reshuffle to strengthen their backline after last season’s defensive showings were deemed inconsistent, to say the least.
Lampard’s side conceded 50 goals last season in the Premier League, 10 more than what the Blues had been subject to under the charge of Maurizio Sarri.
The transfer ban has indeed made things difficult for Lampard. But not getting any reinforcements in defense in this winter transfer did make things more difficult.
The Missing Link
The team needs to get structured in a system that doesn’t overcommit the fullbacks during their offensive play.
The coach should aim to fix individual errors in the back-line. The management should even take decisions regarding Kepa’s horrid display between the sticks if Chelsea wants to make it big this time.
To re-establish their credentials of league title contenders, the Blues need to consider the signing of at least one or two experienced quality defenders even if the current lads show signs of consistent improvement.
Their explosive attacking line may run havoc in the opposition defense in this coming season. Chelsea will not be able to unleash their true powers unless they prioritize improving their backline.
Until then, the Blues will be stuck in this frustrating period of inconsistency for a long time.
