Chelsea have been great this season. Some of the football the Premier League has witnessed this season by the Blues has been breathtaking but it hasn’t come without concerns and criticisms.
Although Chelsea have scored ten goals in the four games they have played in this season, the Blues have conceded three that raises concerns about their back line personnel and style.
David Luiz has been criticized for his way of defending and the awkward faith shown in him by Maurizio Sarri irks some Chelsea fans, especially as the decision pushes the likes of Andreas Christensen down the pecking order.
However, Chelsea’s defensive problems may not entirely lie in the central defense area. With the team switching to a four-man defense under Sarri this season, only two centre back hold the fort when the two full backs maraud in attack.
According to Sarri, there have been situations where both full backs were in attack at the same time, leaving central defenders without great pace to defend in the case of a counter. That he says could lead to trouble in games to come.
“I think we need to be careful – especially the positioning of the player when we are in the offensive phases. Today, we had the right full-back making a cross and the other one in the box. It was a little bit dangerous. We were always in a position to face the counter-attack with only the centre-backs.
David Luiz and Antonio Rudiger were in the right positions when the opposition attacked the space but the defenders and the midfielders on the left and right were not. We need to improve the positioning under the line of the ball.
If we improve in this, then in this kind of match we can have more continuity without the counter-attacks of the opponent. With this continuity maybe we can score earlier.”
Maurizio Sarri, Goal
