There’s no point in sugar-coating it: Chelsea looked very poor against Manchester City – and it was mostly of their own making.
First things first: let’s get the caveats out of the way. It’s still pre-season; players are returning from injuries and international competitions, forging new relationships across the pitch, and they’re also adapting to how a new manager wants to play his football.
That being said, it was an incredibly below par first half for Chelsea. Pep Guardiola’s side can be credited for their pressing game, but in reality it was just sloppy stuff from the Blues.
Some may say it’s better to get these type of mistakes out of the system early in the campaign – technically the season hasn’t even started yet, of course. But it could be a worrying sign of things to come for Chelsea if there is not a significant improvement.
To put it simply, the defence and midfield just did not look a cohesive unit. Yes there were the obvious mistakes from Tosin Adarabioyo and Moises Caicedo which gifted the ball to Erling Haaland twice in the opening five minutes leading to goals. But overall the passing was well off the mark.
The only thing the players looked certain of was that they would be playing it out from the back. How that built into effectively playing around the press and up the pitch to stretch Guardiola’s side? Nobody seemed to know.
The attack did not fare much better. Mykhailo Mudryk was quiet and picked up a knock, being substituted at the break. Christopher Nkunku didn’t look comfortable at No.9, dropping deep to try and get involved but had nothing much to work with in behind in the first half save for one occasion, from which he forced a decent stop.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was playing on the left, but tucking in with Malo Gusto overlapping him on the flank. None of it worked particularly well.
Noni Madueke came on at half-time for Mudryk and immediately stretched the game, putting in a decent ball that caused City some problems, before a miscommunication minutes later with Reece James saw him backheel the ball out of play. Not the worst moment in the world, just an indication of what’s currently missing for this extravagantly assembled squad. It did not take long for the quality gap to be put on full display again, however.
It took City 17 seconds to capitalise on a mistake from Chelsea’s kick-off in the first half to make it 2-0. In the second half, Oscar Bobb made it 3-0 and there were just 25 seconds between kick-off and Haaland sealing his hat-trick.
Again, it was a case of errors leading to goals. Raheem Sterling off the bench passed it behind Gusto when attempting a lay-off. Bobb sliced through the Chelsea backline before firing low past Robert Sanchez. For the fourth, Gusto himself gave the ball away, with City moving it quickly with one-touch football to put Haaland through and dispatch for his hat-trick.
Sterling and Madueke got goals back for Chelsea and there were chances at both ends as the game became stretched. But in reality, Chelsea were lucky the scoreline didn’t get too embarrassing. It could easily have been six or seven.
The one thing Enzo Maresca will need most to get this squad functioning to the best of its ability is exactly what Chelsea’s owners seem least likely to give him: time.
Putting together a cohesive unit in the Premier League playing stylish and effective football takes time, dedication and very talented players. Thomas Tuchel’s exit from Stamford Bridge back in 2022 showed the owners know exactly what they want and are ruthless if what they have does not match their vision. The decisions to remove Graham Potter and Mauricio Pochettino since then have brought into question whether they have the patience to allow it to happen.
