On Saturday,18th January 2019, I sat with some football fans of which many were for Chelsea watching a London derby between Arsenal and Chelsea; a game that was slipping out of Chelsea’s hands by halftime trailing their opponents by 2 goals. Most Chelsea fans were visibly angry voicing their anger at some players notably Marcos Alonso and Willian.
Not to say these fans don’t have a point but Chelsea’s improved second-half performance tells the issue at the club is not just caused by two players.
Firstly, Eden Hazard’s position as a false nine has never been fruitful and never will it be. His body language in the game tells more than we can. Hazard loves running at defenders with the ball at his feet and then cutting into the box to supply the assist for his strikers. Moreover, his height doesn’t favour his position; he failed to jump for a single cross that came into the Arsenal box from either Alonso or Aziplicueta. There should be a target man up front, release Hazard to his favourite position to run at defenders then cause the damage he did to Liverpool at Anfield in the EFL cup.
Unfortunately, Chelsea lack that. Madrid are keeping an eye on him, he is refusing to sign a new deal at Chelsea but claims he and his family are happy in London. As it stands,his team is cutting this happiness and Madrid might be his next stop for happiness.
The rants against Alonso in recent weeks are appalling considering the fact that he is one of the best left backs to don the blue shirt ever since the departure of Ashley Cole. All of a sudden Chelsea fans think he is the worst forgetting the change in formation this season. Emerson is a suitable back up but Alonso offers more. His free kick scoring abilities and the understanding between him and hazard of the the left wings for Chelsea is why he still starts for the blues. Until Chelsea signs a left back who offers more high pitch than Alonso, the Spanish will continue to make that position his.
The break down in understanding between between Morata and Aziplicueta on the field might be a factor too. In the Morata’s first six games for Chelsea, he found the back of the net on six occasions with crosses coming from the Chelsea captain. Morata stop scoring and everyone thinks he is the worst; but his favorite supplier hasn’t been effective too.
Manchester United legend ferdinand on one of his pundits duties last season slammed Chelsea for some classless signings they have done in recent years. Rightly so! Signings like Zappacosta, Emerson, Drinkwater, and Olivier Giroud are yet to prove fruitful. Most can argue these players have not been given many opportunities but the little that have come their way, they haven’t performed as expected of them. The likes of Fabregas who in difficult games unlocked stubborn defenses has been shipped out to Monaco and is yet to be replaced.
The club’s failure to sign a superstar as huge as Eden Hazard since the Belgian’s arrival is a key factor as well. Everybody was a performer when Chelsea had Lampard, Essien, Ballack, Drogba, Terry...etc, same can’t be said of this squad that only looks up to Hazard when they are in trouble. Christian Pulisic is set to arrive next season but the young American can’t solve a problem as huge as Chelsea’s.
Is not bad as some Chelsea fans sees it. Two members of the playing body is not the reason for Chelsea’s huge mountain of troubles; it goes beyond them!
By Enoch Sakyi || Chelsea fan from Ghana.