Former Blue Pat Nevin believes a lack of quality at centre back is stopping Chelsea from challenging for the Premier League title.
The Blues conceded a club record amount of goals in the league under Mauricio Pochettino and lost veteran defender Thiago Silva in the summer, but the Brazilian plans to return in a coaching role when he’s retired.
Chelsea signed Tosin Adarabioyo on a free from neighbours Fulham, but arguably they failed to properly replace Silva, with the Blues really missing his leadership and obvious quality.
Nevin feels Chelsea have a lack of quality at centre back
Enzo Maresca has settled on Levi Colwill and Wesley Fofana as his first choice defensive pairing so far, but the Blues have made a number of individual errors at the back.
Robert Sanchez gifted Brighton two goals, whilst Colwill didn’t appear to be himself at Anfield and was rash in giving away a penalty.
Whilst there’s a lot of potential in Chelsea’s defenders they do lack top quality at the back and have been spoilt over the years with the likes of John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho.
It’s been reported the Blues have added Benfica’s Antonio Silva to their list of centre back targets as they look to add reinforcements.
Whilst Chelsea have started well, Nevin feels a lack of top quality at centre back will hold them back from the challenging at the top of the league.
“Blues fans have been spoiled at centre-back and have got used to some of the best in the world at the core of their defence,” he told BBC Sport as cited on X.com.
“The absence of top quality in that core area means the top table is still beyond them.”
It’s hard to argue against Nevin and the performance against Liverpool was a prime example of how Chelsea lack leadership and experience at the back.
Whilst the likes of Fofana and Colwill have so much potential they aren’t quite there yet and it’s a surprise with all the money spent the Blues didn’t look to address that position.