Chelsea slumped to successive away defeats as Southampton beat them 2-1 at the Saint Mary’s Stadium. Chelsea took the lead through Raheem Sterling early on – but found themselves 2-1 down at half-time, and from there, never came close to turning the game around. Signings are urgently needed before the transfer deadline.
Player Ratings:
Edouard Mendy- 4/10
Mendy should be so disappointed with himself for Southampton’s first goal. For someone who is one of the best shot-stoppers in world football, he let the ball through his hands far too easily. The goal brought Southampton back into the game, and Mendy will need to pick up his form fast, or else Kepa will be on Tuchel’s mind.
César Azpilicueta- 4/10
Chelsea’s club captain looks severely off the pace of the Premier League. A really poor clearance from a corner gifted the ball to Southampton for their opening goal. The Spaniard struggled going forward and was often caught out of position in defence.
Thiago Silva- 7/10
Even in the midst of another woeful performance, Thiago Silva stood out. Always looked calm on the ball, made some good interceptions, and completed eight clearances. This included one of the best goal-line clearances of all time- backheeling a bouncing ball off the line.
Kalidou Koulibaly- 5/10
Back from suspension, Koulibaly looked shaky on the ball today. A lot of misplaced passes, including one that led to Southampton’s winning goal. The Senegalese central defender made some strong tackles but ultimately had a poor performance.
Marc Cucurella- 6/10
Cucurella had a mixed bag today. He made a brilliant goal-saving block and made a good dummy run for Chelsea’s opener. Apart from that, however, the left-back struggled going forward and was caught out of position too often by Southampton’s attack.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek- 5/10
Withdrawn after just 45 minutes, seemingly due to injury, Loftus-Cheek struggled in a two-man midfield. The Englishman has operated mostly as a wingback this season but moved into the centre of the park, he couldn’t have the same effect he’d had in previous games, being bypassed by Southampton too easily.
Jorginho- 4/10
A poor performance from the Italian, who has shown before he can be bypassed very easily. Too often Southampton found so much space between midfield and defence. A really shocking attempt at a tackle before Southampton’s second goal proved costly for the Blues.
Hakim Ziyech- 4/10
Ziyech, who made a rare start today, looked positive in the early stages – with some good link-up with Sterling and a phenomenal pass to Havertz. After that, however, it is almost as if he gave up. Every pass was poor, no desire to go forward, it seems quite clear he wants to leave the club and if he is going to put in performances like this he should be allowed to.
Mason Mount- 5/10
Another disappointing performance for Mount, who has had a really poor start to the season. Apart from a good assist to Sterling to open the scoring the Englishman struggled to get involved. He did put in a good amount of effort but needs to improve when Chelsea has the ball going forward.
Kai Havertz- 5/10
Although a hard-working performance, another performance with no direct threat to goal. Havertz looked lively, playing some good passes early on, particularly to find Mount for Chelsea’s opener. Two big chances were squandered, however, one straight into the keeper’s arms, the other a header from close range that looped over the bar.
Raheem Sterling- 6/10
On the positive side, another goal for Sterling. A well-taken, calm finish into the bottom corner gave Chelsea the lead. From there, however, Chelsea’s new forward struggled to get into the game at all, and lost the ball too easily on more than one occasion.
Subs :
Mateo Kovačić- 6/10
It was good to see the Croatian back for a longer time on the pitch after missing the majority of the season so far due to injury. Kovačić came on at half-time, but other than some neat dribbling, struggled to help Chelsea going forward.
Christian Pulisic- 5/10
The American did not have a good cameo at all. He came on and did nothing but give the ball, or fouls away. However, it is very clear that he is not capable of playing as a wing-back, and Tuchel needs to adapt to this because if Pulisic keeps playing there, he will continue to perform poorly.
Ben Chilwell- 6/10
Not much involvement for Chilwell today, who was brought on in the second half. Couldn’t make much of a difference going forward but as he continues to get more game time after his major injury last year, hopefully, we will begin to see him get back to his best.
Armando Broja- 7/10
The Albanian made a big statement today with the short amount of time he had on the pitch. He looked strong, powerful and direct, something Chelsea are massively missing at the moment. Surely, he must start this weekend in what will be a fiery game against rivals West Ham.
Thomas Tuchel- 5/10
His options are limited, with midfield suspensions and injuries, as well as the big loss of Reece James before the game, but Tuchel has to come up with something to turn this season around soon. There is a major issue in midfield when Kante is not playing, and with the Frenchman’s injury record, this needs to be sorted out a different way. Going forward the Blues look toothless. Signings are needed before the rapidly approaching transfer deadline.
Twitter- @Kieranroy1
