Just as Chelsea’s preseason tour hit new highs, Enzo Maresca’s men were humbled by Premier League Champions Manchester City in a crushing 4-2 defeat. With positive performances few and far between, Chelsea’s defeat to City emphasised three major concerns that the Blues must address moving forward.
Three Major Concerns: Manchester City 4-2 Chelsea
1. Shoehorning Big Name Transfers into the Starting Lineup
Due to the return of Chelsea’s £200 million duo, Maresca accommodated for his big-name players by making drastic changes to the starting lineup against City. However, his team’s shape was evidently less cohesive with multiple players in unfavourable roles.
Both Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez started in midfield alongside Romeo Lavia, pushing Christopher Nkunku up top as a number nine and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall out on the wing. Additionally, Maresca refrained from using an inverted fullback against City. Instead, he opted for a Caicedo – Lavia double pivot while Malo Gusto ventured forward as an unorthodox winger in attack. Maresca’s experiment with forcing drastic changes and diverting from his tactics significantly backfired.
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Many players performed poorly in these new unfamiliar roles and the team’s overall cohesion suffered as a result. For example, Nkunku had no effect on the game as a striker until he moved deeper as an advanced central midfielder in the second-half. Enzo also struggled in a role higher up the pitch, similar to the difficulties he faced under Pochettino. Likewise, Dewsbury-Hall proved to be ineffective on the wing while Mykhailo Mudryk looked lost on the opposite side. Lastly, Gusto performed considerably better as an inverted fullback rather than an attack-minded left-back.
Pressure from Chelsea’s hierarchy to play their marquee signings exacerbate Maresca’s challenge of creating a balanced lineup. This issue was exemplified during Pochettino’s campaign, as the Clearlake consortium clamoured for the use of a Caicedo – Enzo midfield duo despite Conor Gallagher‘s effectiveness in place of the Argentine. Maresca must be able to withstand such pressure in order to produce a balanced lineup, even if it means rotating some big-name transfers.
2. Sloppy Mistakes Leading to Goals
Similar to their defeat against Celtic, most of the goals that Chelsea conceded against City were produced from sloppy mistakes. The first two goals were gifted from easy giveaways at the back, and the last two were similar counter attacks from giveaways in possession.
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Even more worrying was how these mistakes came in bunches. Chelsea conceded two goals within less than a minute on two separate occasions against City, accentuating the lapse in concentration. In the future, Chelsea will need to be remarkably more tidy when building out from the back to eradicate simple errors leading to easy goals.
3. Inconsistent Backline Combination
It’s important to note that rotation in pre-season is necessary to test different players’ fitness and performance, but Maresca must begin to establish a consistent backline combination for the start of the season. Establishing consistency along the backline allows for strengthened chemistry that can reduce the amount of goals they concede, while it can also improve the defenders’ familiarity with building the ball out from the back. Chelsea’s mistakes building out the back and four goals conceded against City serve as a reminder that a consistent lineup in defence is much needed.
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Last season, Chelsea had the fourth most defensive lineup combinations in the league at 21, contributing to their worst defensive record in over 20 years. There still seems to be no clear starting backline, with two different fullback and three different centre-half pairings so far in pre-season. Breeding familiarity along the backline can help Maresca improve Chelsea’s defensive record dramatically.
