By Joseph Layele
After a poor performance at the weekend against Aston Villa, where they slumped to a 1-0 defeat with a straight red card to malo gusto, Mauricio Pochettino has openly admitted that club owner Todd Boehly and the Chelsea hierarchy are “disappointed” with the club’s current plight.
The Londoners have won just once in the Premier League this term and are currently wallowing in the bottom half of the table after Sunday’s loss against Villa.
Since Boehly and Clearlake Capital acquired the club last May, Chelsea has spent over 1 billion pounds in the transfer market. The signing of expensive young players has failed to translate into success on the pitch.
Chelsea has failed to score in three consecutive matches and their worst start since 1978.
When the coach was asked how Chelsea could solve their goalscoring woes, he added: “Work. Giving trust and then confidence.”
He continued: “The performance is good. I don’t want to say it is excellent, but we miss being clinical in front of goals. We need to keep going, working, to find a solution.”
Now, talking about solutions – Pochettino has voiced to his team that they need to grow up like a team, not only individually. “We are in a situation where we need to change as soon as possible.”
The team comprises very young players, and most of them are new to the premier league. The team is still in the process of becoming a super team that will compete for many years, but the fans can’t wait.
After lavishing billions of pounds to revamp the team, positive results are needed now.
Here are three solutions to turn the ugly situation around…
1. After complaining about his 3-4-2-1 formation last week, I am glad Pochettino has taken correction and has turned to a 4-2-3-1 system. Nevertheless, there are still some reservations about the personnel he used to execute the system.
Colwill was preferred to Chilwell at right back, and Enzo played as a number 10, while Cole Palmer wasted on the bench.
My take is this: Chilwell should be used at right back to give width to the style of play and not Colwill.
Enzo is not a creative player behind a striker, so he should stop using him as a playmaker. Enzo is a center midfielder, and his game style is best maximized when he is paired with a defensive midfielder.
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Cole Palmer should be deployed as a creative number 10 from the start of the game to affect the game positively with his turns and tricks. We saw a glimpse of that when he came in against Aston Villa.
2. Pochettino needs to quickly fix this team by finding a regular team player he can entrust and use consistently every week to find the right balance.
My advice: go with a 4-2-3-1 system with the same personnel week in and week out and see the team grow in cohesion and rhythm.
The more you use the same team repeatedly, the more the team gets used to themselves and gels quickly together. Enough of chop and change.
3. Is there even a psychologist on that team at all? This player needs to be psyched up mentally, physically, and otherwise.
They gain more possession with chances to score but always fail or jitters to convert prospects.
The team is low in confidence in front of goals.
The Club Psychologist needs to start working on their mind and how to get the best out of them.
There is no doubt that the team plays beautiful football, but mistakes here and there and naivety in front of goals always cost them points.
Now, the coach should work with his backroom staff to put on extra training to improve every individual on converting chances and building lethal confidence.
Laleye Joseph is BrandiQ’s Senior Sport Correspondent. He is a Unilag graduate of Public Administration
