Chelsea have just drawn 1-1 with Crystal Palace in a game which was uncannily similar to countless games last season.
At home in the late summer sunshine, the Blues got off to a great start. They dominated the ball created loads of chances, scored a great goal, and pressed hard for the second.
When they couldn’t find it, things began to get nervy. Then Palace equalised out of nowhere, and after that, rather than step things up, Chelsea got frustrated and lost the rhyton that had made them dangerous early on.
We saw it countless times last season, and it looks like we will once again have to get used to that sort of game, even with a new manager in place. Speaking to the press after the game, Enzo Maresca did have one idea for how things might improve. You guessed it – transfers.
He claimed that Deadline Day addition Jadon Sancho, who was sat in the stands today, was the sort of player who might have been able to unlock the opposition once they sat deep:
“Jadon is a player, he is here because we like that kind of player – especially against a low block like today. With these kind of games, we have five, six or seven chances here. There are not many teams that can do something to win the game.”
The flaw in the logic
We don’t disagree that Sancho is that sort of player. The problem is, so is Cole Palmer, so is Joao Felix, so is Pedro Neto, so is Christopher Nkunku, so is Enzo Fernandez… the list goes on. They were all on the pitch and weren’t able to solve the problem. What makes Maresca think Sancho will be any different?
So, wait… SuperFrank, you’re arguing that the best way to break down packed defenses is to have FEWER skilled attackers? Seriously???
If we’ve learned one lesson from watching Pep-ball over the years it’s that you can never have enough technicians in your squad! Given that you’ll always lose guys to injury the one thing you can least afford when implementing a system based on technical creative play is to lack a bench with full of skill. So, it’s a truly nonsensical argument SuperFrank is making here, especially when you’re talking about a guy who came up in just such a system!