Starting the game with intent and purpose, Chelsea came out like a house on fire and could have gone 3 goals ahead in the first 30 mins if not for poor timing of movement and execution of final passes.
With the flurry of chances created, Chelsea did take a deserved lead before West Ham fought back to level the score following lapses in concentration in the Blues defence. Chelsea should have had a late penalty after Thomas Soucek saved Conor Gallagher’s shot but there was no on field review. Potter in the post match conference looked defeated and said “It’s life” in relation to the incident.
Here is what we learnt from today:
Enzo-Felix combo a positive to take forward :
Two new signings into the club to help solve the creative issues Chelsea have battled with in recent years, Enzo Fernandez and Joao Felix both looked like solutions to the already established problem.
Felix playing just behind Havertz floated around the pitch while constantly finding decent pockets of space to get on the ball and affect play attacking-wise.
Felix’s off ball movement also caused all sorts of problems as West Ham struggled to keep tabs on him in the first half. Enzo on his part showed his passing range and ability to pick a out a player with his brilliant assist for Felix as the both seemed to have struck a good understanding and partnership.
Despite having a lesser impact after the break, both showed enough promise of good things still to come.
Chelsea remain inconsistent overall :
Starting the game with full dominance and control, Chelsea looked well on course for a comfortable win at the London Stadium. Having an expected goal ratio of 1.00 in the first half and two disallowed goals, Chelsea’s first half performance looked a lot more like what Potter and many fans alike would be expecting on a consistent basis from the Blues.
Contradictingly, the second half looked a lot more like the Chelsea of old as the Blues somehow found it extra difficult to create chances and have an extended period of sustained pressure on the West Ham goal (xG 0.18) in the second half. The drastic drop in expected goal ratio didn’t come as a coincidence, as it came simultaneously with the drop in impact of Felix and Enzo.
Both did look a tad tired in the second half and their waning influence coincided with the drop in intensity of the whole team. The substitutions certainly didn’t help out enough as the game drifted away from Chelsea who could count themselves unlucky as a decent penalty shout was waved off by the VAR in the dying embers of the game.
Kai Havertz struggled once again :
Coming off a promising showing from the Fulham game, many expected Kai to showcase that sort of chemistry once again here at the London stadium.
Dropping deep to allow Felix run further, acting as the coy to link up nicely with Felix were all parts of the positive play that saw many make the call for Kai to alongside the Portuguese today.
His disinterested style of play did show up once again here as Kai seemed reluctant to fully contest the physical battles offered by Ogbonna and Aguerd during the game, winning just 2/12 ground duels.
Leading the line, Kai also got found wanting with his movements a couple of times as he got flagged offside 3 times. Kai could do with a time on the bench at the moment with Fofana showing good promise off the bench in the previous game against Fulham. It is time to try out something new.
Man of the Match – Joao Felix 8/10.
Next up for Chelsea is the champions league round of 16 tie against Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday, a huge game for Graham Potter, his current record in 23 matches is 9 wins, 7 losses and 7 draws.
