Chelsea are having a pretty ordinary 2022-23 season by their usually high standards. They are languishing at the 10th position in the league table, having lost seven of their 20 matches so far. They have also been drawn to face Borussia Dortmund in the round of 16 match of the UEFA Champions League and might find it very difficult to go through to the quarterfinal.
Chelsea sacked Champions League-winning coach Thomas Tuchel and appointed Graham Potter in September last year, but the latter is yet to justify his appointment. It is true that a new manager has to be given time to perform, but a lot of the coaches do not enjoy that luxury in big clubs.
In this article, we will take a look at three reasons why the Blues have failed to do well so far this season:
#1. Injuries to key players:
Chelsea have suffered because of injuries to a few of their important players like N’Golo Kante and Ben Chilwell and Reece James. The absence of the last two have rendered the Blues rather ineffective down the flanks and Conor Gallagher has not yet been able to fill in the void created by Kante’s injury.
Kante’s ability to carry the ball into the opposition penalty box has been sorely missed, as Matteo Kovacic has not been able to replicate it despite contributing with his work-rate and physical presence.
On the other hand, Marc Cucurella and Cesar Azpilicueta have not proved to be as threatening with their overlaps as Chilwell and James, respectively. As a result, Chelsea have often lacked width in their attack. As a result, The Blues have scored only 22 goals in 20 matches in the league, which is significantly less than the tally of the other big clubs.
#2. New signings not performing as per expectations:
Chelsea have been absolutely indulgent in terms of their spending, with 22-year-old Argentine midfielder Enzo Fernandez being the latest of their high-value signings. However, the likes of Kalidou Koulibaly, Cucurella, Gallagher, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Raheem Sterling, all of whom were signed by Chelsea at the start of the season, have not really excelled.
Cucurella, as mentioned before, did not look very threatening with his overlaps, Koulibaly even lost his place in the starting line-up a few months into the season and Sterling started to fade after a bright start. Aubameyang has scored only three goals in 17 matches, which is far less than what is expected of a quality No. 9.
Gallagher has probably been the most impressive of the new signings and has been regularly making it to the starting eleven. Still, he is not yet on the same level as Kante in terms of taking the attack into the opposition.
Mykhailo Mudryk’s signing, however, has been a silver lining for the club as the Ukranian forward has impressed during his short stint so far. It is now up to him and Enzo Fernandez to justify their huge price-tags and pull the Blues out of troubled waters.
#3. Attacking players underperforming:
As has been mentioned before, Chelsea have struggled to score goals and the below-par performance of both Mason Mount and Kai Havertz is one of the primary reasons behind it. Under Potter, Chelsea have switched to a back-four, while Tuchel preferred to play with a back-three and then relying on the overlaps of his wing-backs James and Chilwell.
Switching to a 4-2-3-1 means that Chelsea are now more reliant on their central attackers like Mount and Havertz to breach opposition defenses. Mount has three goals and four assists in 25 matches this season, while Havertz has six goals and an assist in the same number of matches.
Those figures are well below the high standards expected in a club like Chelsea and Potter should find a way to address this issue.
Probably he can think of switching to a 4-3-3 with Enzo Fernandez as the lone defensive midfielder, playing Mount as a central midfielder alongside Gallagher or Kovacic and Havertz on the right flank to allow him to cut inside with his preferred left foot and also to accommodate Aubameyang as the centre-forward. It, therefore, remains to be seen whether Potter is able to save his job for the remainder of the season.
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