“This has been an issue for a couple of years” – Paul Merson highlights problem with Chelsea after latest setback
Paul Merson highlighted that Chelsea never looked like finding the back of the net in their latest Premier League defeat against Nottingham Forest. The Blues suffered a 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, with former Manchester United player Anthony Elanga scoring for the visitors.
Mauricio Pochettino's side had 76 percent ball possession. However, they could only manage two shots on target over the course of the 90 minutes. Analyzing the display, Merson said (via ChelsHQ):
"If you play ten men behind the ball against #Chelsea, they find it so difficult to break them down. It's so slow and mundane. It's never constant pressure, they never pin teams in. This has been an issue for a couple of years now."
Nicolas Jackson, perhaps Chelsea's only designated striker at the moment, missed a gilt-edged opportunity as he skied the ball from an unmissable range.
The Blues have now lost two of their first four Premier League games, have won one, and have drawn another. They have four points on the board from as many matches and sit 11th in the league table.
Frank Leboeuf wanted Chelsea to hijack Manchester United's Sofyan Amrabat move
Sofyan Amrabat recently completed a loan move to Manchester United from Fiorentina. Frank Leboeuf, however, wanted the Blues to make a move for the Moroccan.
While the Stamford Bridge club have already signed Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo, Leboeuf thinks a player of Amrabat's experience would have been a perfect fit alongside Enzo Fernandez. He told ESPN (via Metro):
"When I see those kind of players going to Manchester United… I often talk about Chelsea trying to find those experienced players in the middle of the park. Why didn’t you think about that guy? He would have been the perfect player to pair with Enzo Fernandez."
"Yeah they got Moises Caicedo, but for over £100m! I see that guy going to United on loan, he can then be bought for [a total fee of] £30m. That would have been a bargain," Frank Leboeuf added.
The Blues have focused on building a young squad and most of their players are aged in their early 20s. While the vision is good for the long-term, an experienced campaigner like Amrabat could have provided stability on an immediate basis.