Chelsea are winless in their first three games of the new campaign. After losses against Manchester United and Liverpool, the Blues only managed to take a point against Leicester City on Sunday.
Former Liverpool star Steve Nicol had some interesting comments about the frailties in the squad under Frank Lampard.
Speaking on the ESPN FC show, Nicol said, “The biggest problem Chelsea have is they don’t know how to defend when they are going forward.
“Frank [Lampard] is talking about something they were doing at Manchester United. It was the exact same at Manchester United.
“The backline standing all the way back letting people drop into holes in front of them and then running at them. So nothing has happened between Manchester United and Leicester City at home,” he added.
Issues with the system
As he showed in his time at Pride Park, Lampard is an advocate of free-flowing football. His side showed as much in the first 20 minutes of the game against the Foxes. Chelsea pressed Leicester City deeper and deeper, forced them into a mistake, which Mason Mount profited from.
But just half an hour into the game, the hosts looked a completely different side, often losing the ball in the midfield, and inviting pressure onto the backline.
N’Golo Kante was isolated at times and Leicester went past him quite easily. Jorginho failed to provide the cover for the backline, leaving them exposed for the rest of the game.
The trip to Istanbul and back, having played 120 minutes in Turkey, certainly did not help Chelsea maintain their energetic style of play, but as Nicol pointed out, the defensive frailties in the side were evident even in the game at Old Trafford.
Chelsea’s best defensive performance came against Liverpool when Lampard played a three-man midfield but that reduces their attacking prowess, leaving the manager with a decision to make.
To add to it, Chelsea have no natural leaders on the field. Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen are not experienced enough to take up the responsibilities while Kante and Jorginho have not shown leadership qualities in the past.
Cesar Azpilicueta, the club captain, has not been able to organise his backline like in the years gone by, so Chelsea have a problem, not just with their system, but with also their personnel.
How can this be solved?
Lampard can call upon Christian Pulisic to add creativity in attack but Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud are not regular goal scoring sources, forcing Lampard to play an attacking midfielder in Mason Mount.
If Lampard wants to stick with this system, the work Chelsea put in on the training ground will be crucial. The lack of organisation all around the field is evident and the manager needs to make sure that they play as a team and help each other out in tough situations.
Their pressing game was impressive at the start against Leicester at the weekend and Lampard needs to make sure that his squad has the legs to maintain such pressure for long periods.
The return of Antonio Rudiger will certainly add a presence at the back but the issues that have pushed them back early this season, will not be easy to solve.
The effort on the training ground, trust in each other’s abilities and getting the right combination for the right game are all factors that can decide the extent of Chelsea’s success this campaign.