Paul Merson believes that the Chelsea attack lacks identity
Arsenal legend Paul Merson believes that the Chelsea attack lacks a clear and cohesive strategy in comparison to the rival frontlines at Arsenal and Manchester City.
Chelsea once again fell short on Saturday when they were beaten 1-0 by the Wolves. They have only scored six goals in their past six games and do not appear to have any sort of inspiration going forward.
Meanwhile, Arsenal have scored 19 goals in the same amount of time. The Blues are now 11th in the Premier League rankings and are having one of their most difficult seasons in recent memory.
Interim manager Frank Lampard, who will be in control of the team until the end of the season could not have asked for a worse start and will now be scrambling to salvage the season.
Merson argues that Chelsea lacks an offensive plan and that their attackers must communicate effectively with one another while they are attacking. Theis lack of cohesion has been apparent over the last few months with players often appearing clueless.
And speaking to Sky Sports, (h/t Fooball.London), he contrasts Arsenal’s offensive style with Chelsea’s and asserts that Arsenal attacks with a lot more intelligence. Merson said:
“I know Frank said before the game that he has only had a couple of days to work with them, so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on this sort of thing, but you look at the players and there is no sort of pattern.”
”If something happens, it just happens, and you’ll watch Man City play later or Arsenal tomorrow, and you’ll see what is going to happen: someone will run inside for the ball like Martinelli or Saka, and there is a pattern.”
That is undoubtedly accurate; among the situations when this has occurred is during yesterday’s game, when Kai Havertz chose to pass the ball to Conor Gallagher rather than Joao Felix, who was in a huge space since Gallagher was running into traffic.
While you are playing with each other, there has to be understanding since these minor mistakes may have a big impact. For now, the attack has not yet jelled together and much work needs to be done behind the scenes to get them firing all cylinders.
More Chelsea News:
- Kai Havertz insists he is happy at Chelsea and rules out a move to Bayern Munich
- Jamie Redknapp say Frank Lampard has unfinished business at Chelsea
- Liverpool are ready to offer Mason Mount the wages he is seeking at Chelsea
Given that Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka have been teammates for the past two to three years and playing under the same manager, comparing it to Arsenal would be irrational. Meanwhile, Chelsea have signed new players and changed coaches three times in this year, which will certainly impact their style of play.