Chelsea suffered their first defeat of the season at the hands of an experienced and well drilled Bayern Munich side at the Allianz Arena.

Vincent Kompany’s men ran out 3-1 winners, with Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca admitting that his side “will learn a lot” from the match.

A Cole Palmer solo goal threatened a chance at a comeback in the first half, but it was once again individual mistakes and game management that cost the Blues in the end.

The Tactical approach

Enzo Maresca started the same lineup minus Levi Colwill (Tosin the replacement) as he did against PSG in the FIFA Club World Cup Final.

The approach? To go man to man and win the ball back high up the pitch before launching attacks down the flanks, where Malo Gusto and Pedro Neto provided the pace and outlets needed on paper to execute the plan.

The reality however, was Bayern were far too good on the ball, cutting through Chelsea’s midfield with short, snappy passes.

There was a big gap between Joao Pedro, who started up front, and the midfield. Bayern freely broke the lines and simply, the midfield of Moises Caicedo and Reece James was not compact enough structurally.

Enzo Fernandez, who was deployed as an advanced eight / ten, did not have the legs to get back often enough to form a midfield three.

Maresca perhaps should have started Andrey Santos instead, considering his ability to play number six and eight fairly simultaneously.

There could also be criticism of Maresca’s lack of early subs, considering the fact that he did not introduce Alejandro Garnacho and Andrey Santos until the 68th minute.

Striker Marc Guiu did not get any action even though Joao Pedro admitted to Maresca pre Brentford that he still wasn’t 100% fit, nore did Josh Acheampong, who surely would have been at least as capable, if not more than Trevoh Chalobah at right centre back, who unfortunately scored an own goal to put Chelsea one down.

Whether it was planned for them to be introduced in the minutes prior or not, it did not go unnoticed by Chelsea fans that Maresca chose to bring on two subs four minutes after Harry Kane netted the third.

Pedro Neto dilemma

I feel like Chelsea are encountering a similar problem with Pedro Neto as they did with Noni Madueke.

Albeit Pedro Neto works much harder defensively and arguably that is why he plays so much, but positionally, he and Madueke are much different threats on the right than they are on the left.

Neto seems ‘awkward’ when attacking down the left. He does not take on or beat his man anywhere near as much and he does not cut in and shoot as the angles aren’t as favourable as on the right.

Maresca should have subbed in one of the more natural left wingers earlier, such as Alejandro Garnacho, or perhaps even trusted Jamie Gittens in this particular match, given the fact that he knows Bayern well from his time in the Bundesliga and scored at the Allianz Arena last season.

Directors must take blame

As much as Chelsea do have some exciting talent, not to have bought at least one plug and play, reliable centre back both on and off the ball with the amount of investment, is unforgivable..

I do not see a world where Tosin and Chalobah are of the level to consistently perform every 3-4 days, nore do I see a world where Acheampong or Badiashile can play central centre back to anywhere near the level of Levi Colwill.

There is question marks about Wesley Fofana’s ability after so many injuries, and it is likely he will suffer further setbacks based on history.

Chelsea have numbers at the back, but the quality and profiles do not match up with expectations.

Sure, can Chelsea keep enough goals out to stay in the top four? Probably. Could Chelsea go on a deep domestic cup run? Probably.

But after over £1BN spent, another season has started where fans do not even think of the Premier League title or Champions League being realistic targets to win, how can that be the case? Or more importantly, when will that change?.

I am a believer of the famous old saying ‘attack will win you games but defence will win you titles’.

It is not a coincidence that Chelsea’s two champions league triumphs had elite defensive spines.

Who remembers Conte’s 2016 title winning team and Mourinho’s legendary title winning Chelsea sides, too?

Self inflicted wounds

All three goals that Chelsea conceded against Bayern Munich came down to player mistakes, not structural issues.

Trevoh Chalobah and Tosin failed to deal with a low cross across the box for the first, Moises Caicedo gave away a penalty for the second, and Malo Gusto basically assisted Harry Kane for the third after a dodgy touch and pass.

Against Brentford, Tosin let Kevin Schade cut in on his strong foot to have a shot on goal for the first, and then Alejandro Garnacho and company did not deal with a long throw in the 94th minute, which cost Chelsea more points.

Tosin was perhaps also fortunate that Josh King’s goal was disallowed for a foul in the build up at Stamford Bridge when again, he backed off and let a player cut in on his strong foot to have a favourable shot on goal.

Whoever the culprits are, players must ‘lock in’ and be able to concentrate fully for 90 minutes.

Mistakes will happen, but the frequency must lessen if Chelsea are to improve their points tally and go on deep cup runs this season.