Leeds humbling shows Chelsea need signings - and FAST
Paul Macdonald
- Updated: 21 Aug 2022 16:04 BST
- 4 min read
Chelsea need reinforcements.
Leeds handed Thomas Tuchel’s side a comprehensive defeat at Elland Road on Sunday, where in the second half they controlled the ball and, crucially, the tempo of the contest. It’s a gigantic wake-up call for the Blues who are in for a real battle for top four supremacy.
With Manchester City and Liverpool the best two teams in the country, and with Arsenal and Tottenham looking better equipped for a sustained run of victories for the first time in years, Chelsea are no longer benchmarking themselves against the teams above, rather the teams in behind.
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Chelsea’s 4-1-3-2 system simply did not work. Kalidou Koulibaly did not have the most comfortable of afternoons, booked early on and generally given ground to cover by Rodrigo, a player who appears transformed this season.
Ahead of him, Conor Gallagher made his club debut, at long last, but appeared lost, much like his team-mates around him. In attack Kai Havertz still wants to drop into positions where a bona-fide centre-forward really shouldn’t be going, and as a result their attack is tentative, never looking like scoring.
Ultimately Tuchel switched to a 3-5-2 but his team were already 3-0 at that stage. It’s likely this will be his preferred setup going forward, with Reece James and the fit-again Ben Chilwell operating as wing-backs. And if he was in any doubt, his team’s ineffective display with a back four will have made up his mind.
But it wasn’t just tactical. Tuchel’s team were outrun - by almost 15km - by the opposition and largely outfought. There might be a new manager and this might be a new Leeds - and there’s definite credit to be given to Jesse Marsch’s approach and the desire of his players - but they were outfought and out-thought in every aspect.
Koulibaly’s late red card for a cynical shirt-pull ultimately summed up the afternoon; a brainless gesture that had no logic to it, like much of Chelsea’s display.
60 - Today was Thomas Tuchel's 60th Premier League match; Chelsea conceded just 17 goals in the first 30 of these, but have shipped exactly twice as many in the last 30 (34). Concern. pic.twitter.com/aKLQCHRwbK
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 21, 2022
There’s still time left in the window for Chelsea to act. It’s the worst-kept secret that Tuchel wants another centre-back and he still desperately needs a forward.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the front-runner but he isn’t the player of a few seasons ago and it’s not clear what problem he will solve. Likewise, defensive targets have come and gone, like Jules Kounde, and there’s no obvious solution there, either.
Wesley Fofana is the Blues' top candidate to shore up the backline but Leicester are digging in, and Chelsea's woes in defence will surely only make negotiations more difficult as the potential sellers realise how much they need the young star.
Tuchel’s side are not in crisis yet. There’s been a significant turnover of players from this season to last. Andreas Christensen, Romelu Lukaku, Antonio Rudiger and Timo Werner are all gone. In this XI there were four new arrivals; Gallagher, Koulibaly, Cucurella and Sterling. That’s a significant change and it will take time to get the balance right. Not least with N’Golo Kante being out for a month with a hamstring injury.
But it’s a cause for concern. Tuchel has a propensity for implosion at this point of previous managerial reigns, and Chelsea always seem to be one season out from a troubling season. And the nature of this performance suggests that Tuchel needs players, and time, to take Chelsea to where they were last season - let alone forward.
