The Weakest Link 

The Weakest Link

When I asked my followers for a topic to discuss this week, we ended up talking about the weak links in this Chelsea team. There were obvious successes this past season, with a Champions League place sealed and a Europa League trophy in the cabinet, but it must be remembered that we had the possibility of winning seven other trophies. There have been obvious failings in the side which will need addressed. When I asked a group of fans what these weak links were, I got some predictable and some surprising responses. Here are my thoughts on them.
Centre forward
This is probably the most obvious and most discussed area of the side when it comes to talking of our short fallings over the last year. Last summer we lost talismanic striker Didier Drogba and the simple fact is that not replacing him cost us dearly. Fernando Torres still has a surprisingly large amount of supporters who regularly proclaim that “he’s back” every time he scores a goal or finds it in him to outpace James Collins or another average defender. Many seem to think he has improved this season, but 8 goals and 1 red card in 36 premier league appearances is really nowhere near good enough for a club like ours. He did have a very good Europa League campaign and maybe that indicates the level this once great striker finds himself at now.
We also have Senegalese striker Demba Ba who, despite being in the top 5 scorers in the premier league over the last 2 seasons, has failed to really capture that consistent scoring form at Chelsea. At £7m he represents a very good buy and will be a great squad player going forward, but he is not that Champions League level of striker a team such as ours needs.
The Torres subject has been discussed countless times, some will continue to promote his attributes and some will never be convinced. I think fans on either side of the Torres divide would agree that our strike force hasn’t been up to scratch this past season. A new, top quality centre forward will make a huge difference to our team going forward. The conundrum for the new manager is whether to spend big on a new striker or try to propel Romelu Lukaku to the top level.
The Pivot
The “double-pivot” is a relatively new term in football and is used to describe the 2 deeper lying midfielders in a 4-2-3-1 formation. This formation is undeniably the most popular one used in European football right now and has been adopted by Chelsea since Roberto Di Matteo took over and was carried on by Rafa Benitez. At the club we have 3 excellent players who play in the advanced midfield roles in Mata, Hazard and Oscar, but we have struggled to find a combination for those double pivot positions.
It could be argued that we don’t have a single player who is naturally suited to these roles. Frank Lampard’s biggest strength is timing runs into the box, which was great in a 4-3-3, but now often leaves us very exposed. Mikel is a natural holder, but lacks energy. This again was great in a 4-3-3 as he had 2 players either side to compensate for this, but doesn’t translate to the double-pivot. Ramires is an all energy, box to box midfielder who is a great asset to the team, but his lack of tactical discipline and positional sense again make one of these 2 deep lying roles difficult for him. We’ve seen David Luiz deputise in the middle of the park and his range of passing along with his physical presence has worked well at times. When however, you really look at the attributes of Luiz, his future surely lies as a ball playing centre back. The only reason, in my opinion, that people rave about Luiz in midfield is the Premier League mentality that ball playing centre backs are a liability (but that’s a topic for an article all of its own). It could be argued that we have missed the one player who most naturally fits into this midfield role in Oriol Romeu. The young Spaniard will surely be an asset next season if he can get fit.
No matter what way you look at it, no combination of our central midfielders is really up to scratch in this formation and it is unlikely a new manager will go for something different given our advanced midfield options. You just have to compare us to other top teams in Europe playing in a similar system. Dortmund have a combination of Gundogan and Bender, Bayern have Martinez and Schweinsteiger, Real Madrid have Khedira and Alonso/Modric. These 3 sides made up 3 quarters of the Champions League semi-final line up so they must be doing something right to make this system work. What they all have in common is finding the right blend of energy, discipline and playmaking.
Let’s take Dortmund as an example. Sven Bender (or Sebastian Kehl when he plays) is not a massively gifted footballer, but he has excellent energy levels along with a great positional sense and he uses the ball intelligently. He is not expected to contribute a high volume of goals or assists, but is extremely important to the team dynamic. Alongside Bender is Ilkay Gundogan who has been one of the most improved footballers in Europe over the last year. He sets the tempo of the side and is the link between defence and attack. A natural passer with great vision who also knows how to put himself about and make tackles when he needs to (Alonso and Schweinsteiger also have similar attibutes). This combination allows the team to control possession and get forward without being as exposed to the counter attack as we have been this season.
So what do we need to solve this? Last week’s article I wrote on the youth players may hold the key long term with Chalobah and Ake (and later on Ruben Loftus-Cheek) are natural long term options for the high energy holding position, but may be a year or 2 away. As mentioned above there is the returning Romeu, who may seem like a new signing next season if he can pick up his development where he left off. Outside this we have to look at refining Ramires to be more tactically aware and to use the ball better, bringing back a Michael Essien who is a shadow of his formerly world class self or to dip into the transfer market. Players have been mentioned like Khedira and De Rossi in recent weeks to carry out that important role so we will have to keep an eye on this.
The tempo setting playmaker role is arguably a harder problem to solve. We don’t have anyone who could really step up from within to do that job. Josh Mceachran has been mentioned, but is very unlikely to progress so quickly. Neither Lampard nor Luiz are the long term solutions as neither can naturally control the tempo of a match. There has often been talk of Oscar being dropped deeper to play this role, which is a possible option along with bringing back De Bruyne to play deeper like he did during his final season at Genk. Again it seems like a dip into the transfer market is more likely. I’ve been swamped with suggestions on twitter for players in this position. Players like Modric, Gundogan, Banega, and Borja Valero to just name a few. Either way, the double-pivot is arguably the most important part of the team that needs addressing if we are to be able to control matches against the top sides next season.
Left back
This one surprised me a little. When I put the question out to Chelsea fans on twitter to ask where they thought our weakest link was, left back was possibly the most common response. Many of you seem to be concerned by Ashley Cole declining and Ryan Bertrand not being good enough to make the step up from solid squad player to first team stalwart. Where I can see the point being made, I struggle to agree on this one. Ashley Cole may not be the player he was when he first arrived at the club, but he still performs at a very high level on a regular basis. His form doesn’t worry me enough for it to be a problem next season, but let’s take the hypothetical route and say that his form takes a dramatic down turn. Is Ryan Bertrand good enough to step in?
This seems to be the big concern in this scenario. From what we’ve seen so far, Bertrand is a solid left back who gets forward well and defends well. Does he do either of these things on a world class level? Absolutely not. Does this mean that he can’t develop to be a very god Premier League left back? Again I’d say absolutely not. He is yet to get a real run of games in the Chelsea first team so it is hard to judge how consistent he would be if given the chance. So this one is up in the air slightly and it is hard to draw an accurate conclusion.
Luke Shaw has been mentioned by many fans as the long term target to replace Ashley Cole and I do have to admit I would be excited by the prospect of this guy joining the team. He seems to have all the attributes needed to develop into a top class fullback, but he is very young and to assume he would be a big improvement on Bertrand may be very premature. For me, the left back position is fine for one more season at least.
The Verdict
In conclusion it must be said that the team does need to be improved to challenge for the top trophies (Premier League and Champions League) next season. If we can solve the central midfield problem and have a striker scoring 20 or more Premier League goals then I think we have an excellent chance.
As always I thank everyone for contributing on twitter through @CFCDebate and I hope that you will all continue to give your opinions and spark debate amongst us all. I look forward to hearing what you have to say on this one.