Chelsea lost once again, this time away at St James Park. This result means no wins in 5 premier league games, the first time this has happened since 2012.
Here is what we learnt from today :
✓ Injuries Keep Piling Up :
Having already lost several first team players to both injuries and illness, Graham Potter suffered another injury blow early on against the toons with RLC going off with what seemed like a hamstring injury.
Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Kante, Kepa, Chilwell, and Sterling were all out ahead of the tie against Newcastle. With Azpilicueta hooked off at half time and Kalidou Koulibaly struggling with his hamstring, the World Cup hiatus couldn’t have come much sooner for Graham Potter and Chelsea with over a month of recovery time handed the blues.
✓ Midfield Lacks Bite :
Technique, physicality, speed, energy and bite in duels are all qualities you look out when considering a good midfield and it is evident Chelsea misses a huge chunk of those when Kante doesn’t play.
A midfield duo of Kovaciç and Jorginho started the game against Newcastle but lacked the physical effort to match up against a vibrant Newcastle side with Bruno Guimaraes in particular dictating proceedings. A switch to a midfield diamond with Gallagher and Mount both coming in-field to make up the numbers did help Chelsea alleviate a bit of the Newcastle pressure but a brilliant piece of play by Miguel Almiron and a wonderful finish from Willock broke the deadlock and Chelsea’s lack of creativity from the midfield and attack made it very easy for Newcastle to see out the game.
✓ Creativity Remains Absent From Chelsea :
Kai Havertz, Hakim Ziyech, Pulisic and Sterling (absent from today) to name just a few, all came to Stamford Bridge outfit with “decent” numbers in attacking returns only to fail to deliver on expectations.
Here against Newcastle, Potter started off with an attacking trio of Mount, Gallagher and Broja before making changes that saw Ziyech, Kai and Pulisic come on in search of an equalizer but all options seemed to yield just the exact same result, ZERO CREATIVITY OR BITE.
Having an expected goal return (xG) of just 0.29 compared to Newcastle’s 1.06 is a clear indication of the struggle of Potter’s men. One game effort from Broja and a decent strike by Gallagher were the both times Nick Pope needed to make a save and the former Burnley goalie was relatively relaxed in goal.
Despite going in search of an equaliser, Chelsea didn’t put the Newcastle defence under pressure enough to push them to the limit with the game going into a delirious state in the dying embers of the match with rash tackles and time wasting all on show as Eddie Howe won his 5th game against Chelsea as a manager.
All attention focuses on the World Cup now with Chelsea having a few players on show at the mundial later this month in Qatar.
We wish all Chelsea’s representatives well in Qatar and hope they all return fit and free from injuries.
