On September 19, 2024, Beijing time (CEST), in the 5th round of the Premier League, Chelsea lost 0-3 away to Brentford. Following the match, Kieran Gill, Chelsea correspondent for The Daily Mail, published a column analyzing The Blues' current situation and his thoughts on the performance.

Column

If Chelsea's defenders had clean sheet bonuses in their contracts, they would likely not be collecting them lately. The team's defense currently lacks the determination to prevent opponents from scoring, a truly unbelievable situation.

Chelsea has failed to keep a clean sheet in 21 consecutive Premier League matches. Their last clean sheet also came against Brentford in January, during Enzo Maresca's debut as manager. Since then, Chelsea's defense has become an easy target for their opponents.

Chelsea's failure to keep a clean sheet this time felt like "giving away points": the goals conceded came from Brentford's set pieces, marking the fifth time this season Chelsea has conceded from dead balls since Xavi Alonso took over The Blues.

Chelsea specifically brought in Austin MacPhee from Aston Villa this summer to address the chronic set-piece defense problem. He has made some tactical adjustments—in this match, for example, Chelsea tried a new kick-off strategy: Palmer kicked the ball directly out near Brentford's corner flag, giving the opponent a throw-in and attempting to pressure them in their own half from the start.

However, under MacPhee's guidance so far, Chelsea's set-piece defense has not improved significantly. A corner from Mikkel Damsgaard flew to the far post, Jannik Schuster headed it to the center, and Jayden Anthony easily scored with an unmarked header—while Wesley Fofana stood on the goal line watching the ball go in.

While Fofana cannot be entirely blamed for this goal, he is not entirely blameless either. The 25-year-old French defender's performance falls far short of Chelsea's expectations (or rather, Todd Boehly's) when they signed him from Leicester City for £75 million in 2022.

When Fofana was recruited, Boehly served as Chelsea's interim sporting director. Given Fofana's injury history, which was a concern, Boehly found a creative solution.

Rather than sending scouts to London for the medical examination, he sent them to New York, enlisting the team doctors from the NBA team he also owned, the Los Angeles Lakers, to conduct a more thorough medical check on Fofana. The examination lasted over 10 hours, and Fofana ultimately passed, allowing Boehly to sign him as planned.

Chelsea saw great potential in him at the time, but he still has not reached the top level the club demands. In fact, almost the entire defense has failed to meet this standard.

If Alonso wants to lead Chelsea to the top of the Premier League table, he must solve the defense problem. The team is conceding far too many goals, and in this match, with João Pedro absent and Danny Welbeck coming in as a replacement, Chelsea's attack was unable to compensate for the defense's failings.

Substitution Decisions Questioned

Alonso's substitution choices are also under scrutiny, particularly his neglect of Estêvão.

This Brazilian young talent is only 19 years old and highly gifted, and his performances since joining Chelsea have proven he can create a threat whenever given the chance.

There is no doubt he deserves more playing time. Before this away match against Brentford, his Premier League appearances this season consisted of: substitute appearance in the 83rd minute, no appearance, substitute appearance in the 81st minute, substitute appearance in the 86th minute.

In this match, Estêvão only came on as a substitute in the 87th minute, after Chelsea was already down 0-2.

Brazilian media frequently reports that the young star feels frustrated, and anyone in his position would likely feel the same. On the final play of the match, Estêvão's corner kick went directly out of play, a scene that seemed to be a perfect reflection of his disappointing season so far.

An Unexpected Bright Spot

Despite low expectations, Henderson was one of the few Chelsea players who stood out in this match, particularly in the first half after a long absence from the pitch—making his first appearance in over three months.

The 36-year-old veteran brought experience to the team's midfield, at least making Chelsea's away performance look less "soft," a label outsiders have given to the young Chelsea side. However, whenever decisions went against them, Henderson often found himself in confrontations with referee Andrew Madley.

If someone had said a year or two ago, when Chelsea was fully committed to a youth-focused strategy, that Henderson and Welbeck would soon become The Blues' starters, nobody would have believed it. Yet now both are starting, bringing the average age of the starting lineup to 27 years and 349 days—Chelsea's oldest starting XI since their away league match against Arsenal in 2023.

This lineup worked in the first half, but in the second half it completely collapsed due to conceding from a simple set-piece goal.

Diterjemahkan oleh AI.

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