What can stop Chelsea from going unbeaten?
Chelsea are unbeaten this season, cruising in the Premier League and rightly amongst the favourites to win Champions League.
Many people have questioned whether the Blues can remain unbeaten till the end of the season and match the achievements of the Arsenal “Invincibles”. The fact is, this Chelsea side aren’t good enough.
Here’s why.
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5) Diego Costa’s Injury Issues
Diego Costa’s enormous importance to Chelsea only became clear when the Brazilian/Spaniard was absent last month.
Didier Drogba has done well at times, and is a valuable option off the bench, but he doesn’t have the pace or the legs to play like Costa does. The team has to play in an entirely different way with Drogba in the side.
Without Costa the Blues drew 1-1 with Schalke and Maribor in the Champions League, conceded a late equaliser Manchester United after failing to convert a host of chances and scraped a 2-1 win over League Two’s Shrewsbury Town.
With the powerful striker looking like he will regularly be absent, it’s just a matter of time before Chelsea’s inefficiency in front of goal leads to a loss.
4) Lack Of Rotation
Chelsea have a settled first XI, which has been hugely helpful for Mourinho, especially while the rest of their Premier League rivals struggle to integrate their new signings.
The issue with Mourinho’s aversion to rotation will only become apparent later in the year. As fatigue accumulates and Chelsea get deeper into the Champions League, one of the weakened sides they put out in the league is sure to slip up and ruin the perfect record.
3) No Cesc Fabregas Alternative
One of the players likely to be rotated is Cesc Fabregas, who has played all but 11 minutes of Chelsea’s league season so far. The main reason the midfielder is being so heavily overworked, is that Chelsea have no player to replace him in the middle alongside Nemanja Matic. Jon Obi Mikel is too defensive, Oscar not defensive enough, Ramires too unreliable. If Fabregas gets injured (and he’s already started picking up tweaks), Chelsea have nobody capable of replacing him.
2) Overreliance On Eden Hazard
Eden Hazard does not have particularly impressive goal or assist stats, but one only has to watch Chelsea play to see how entirely vital he is to the team.
Chelsea’s strategy is based around getting the ball to Hazard early and letting him run with it. This pulls the opposition out of shape, and leaves spaces for Costa and the other midfielders to exploit.
All it would take is an injury to Hazard, or even just a loss of form, and Chelsea’s attacking play will break down entirely. Andre Schurrle and Willian are hard workers but don’t attack defenders with the same regularity or efficiency as the Belgian.
If their star winger doesn’t play well, Chelsea don’t score, meaning a loss is always just one goal away.
1) Complacency
Chelsea lost to Sunderland, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa towards the end of last season, despite knowing that each of those games was vital in the title race. This year, with their Premier League rivals in almost universal turmoil, Chelsea will be caught out late on with the title already won, when they come up against a side desperate for points.