Chelsea’s clueless offering sounds alarm bells for Conte
FOR Cesc Fabregas the glorious return lasted less than an hour. Restored to the team after two goals in midweek, he was hauled off with Chelsea three down and the home fans celebrated his misfortune.
This was not the turn of events he dreamed of on the eve of his return to Arsenal.
Antonio Conte may rue the decision to risk defensive reliability to select his most creative midfielder ahead of Oscar for the first time in the Premier League but this capitulation was not down to Fabregas.
Chelsea were 2-0 down inside a quarter of an hour — the first was an absolute gift from Gary Cahill — and these dreadful starts have become a habit.
Against Liverpool, Conte’s team were two down in 36 minutes and at Leicester in the EFL Cup two down in 34 minutes before a fight-back completed in extra-time by Fabregas.
Thirteen goals conceded in eight games is not a very Italian trait.
It is seven in three without John Terry and the captain’s return cannot come soon enough, although praying for the fitness of a 35-year-old is not a feasible long-term plan.
Conte must address it because whatever he is asking his defenders to do, they cannot do it.
Chelsea were poor last season but have not appeared quite this clueless at the back since Andre Villa-Boas arrived with his information barrage and “high-block” revolution — and that did not end well for the manager.
Branislav Ivanovic’s casual pass saw Cahill landed in trouble and caught in possession yet again.
He was unfortunate at Swansea, where clearly fouled, but he escaped a similar slip at Leicester when David Luiz came to the rescue.
Still Chelsea sought out intricate passes through dangerous areas, short from the goalkeeper, from full-backs to centre-halves, even when under pressure.
Perhaps it worked for Conte in Italy. Perhaps the tempo made it easier. Perhaps his defenders were more comfortable on the ball. Whatever he is asking it is beyond them.
Shinji Okazaki and Adam Lallana caused them problems, as did Alexis Sanchez and anxiety gripped after the first goal.
For a spell before half-time, Chelsea could not get out of their defensive third. N’Golo Kante is not winning the ball high-up the pitch as he did at Leicester, seemingly restricted to a role on the toes of the centre-halves. He was easily rolled and out-run by Mesut Ozil for the third, a goal to remind Arsenal fans they have a creative force in better shape than Fabregas at the moment.
Conte hooked Fabregas in order to switch to three at the back. His only real contribution had been to sink his studs into Francis Coquelin’s ankle, but he was no worse than others.
Up front, Chelsea created next to nothing. Eighty-three minutes passed before Michy Batshuayi recorded the first shot on target.
At the back, Thibaut Courtois, having won his power struggle with Petr Cech and coach Christophe Lollichon, still pines publicly for a move to Spain and fails to produce the saves to justify the trouble he causes.
Oh, to have the reassuring presence of Cech in goal.