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Although Chelsea won 4-2 to pick up a much needed 3 points against Watford last weekend, the amount of goals and chances Antonio Conte’s side are giving away is starting to become a major concern for the Italian coach.
Last season, when The Blues went on their superb winning run that set them up to win the Premier League title, the Stamford Bridge club kept 9 clean sheets in 13 games.
Since that run of victories was ended by a Dele Alli double at White Hart Lane on January 4th, Chelsea have played 23 league fixtures and have stopped the opposition scoring on just 5 occasions.
This is an alarming drop in defensive stability considering the back line that Conte has deployed during both periods, aside from suspensions and minor injuries, has remained mostly the same.
Chelsea’s 3-5-2 formation has also remained, for the most part, untouched since January, so the answer for their struggles is more than likely due to individual form.
David Luiz proved a lot of his critics wrong last season and in general has looked a much more mature player than he did in his first spell in London. This season however, his proneness for the erratic has started to creep back into his game; namely the lunge on Sead Klasinac that resulted in his sending off against Arsenal and the stupid penalty he gave away against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
Gary Cahill has looked a little out of sorts all season and it’s obvious that other teams are deliberately letting him have the ball in order to benefit from his limited ability to distribute the ball effectively compared to other members of Chelsea’s defence.
With the impressive Andreas Christensen waiting in the wings, Chelsea’s captain will need to improve his performances or else he may find himself out of the staring XI in the very near future.
Between the sticks Thibaut Courtois is still a top-class keeper, but the amount of “he had no right to get that”, type of saves he has been making of late has markedly decreased compared to his first couple of seasons at Stamford Bridge.
Even “Mr.Reliable”, César Azpilicueta has looked a little shaky over the last few weeks, and when that happens you know that there is something not quite right at the back for Chelsea.
All of this will obviously be a cause of worry for Conte, especially as an Italian coach, who are notorious for drilling defensive solidity into their teams.
Many hours will be undoubtedly be spent at the club’s Cobham training facility trying to arrest this slump and Conte will be hopeful that a couple of solid performances and clean sheets will fill his creaking back line with renewed confidence.
What is clear is that Chelsea’s inability to keep clean sheets needs to be addressed quickly otherwise any hopes they have of regaining their Premier League crown or progressing into the later stages of the Champions League will disappear fast.
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