Chelsea’s defensive frailties were, once again, exposed by Aston Villa in the Blues’ first game back to the Premier League and saw yet another clean sheet slip between their fingers.
Frank Lampard’s side walked away 2-1 victors from Villa Park, but the same problems of old resurfaced.
You can give the Blues the benefit of the doubt seeing as they have been out of competitive action for three months. However, an unconvincing defensive showing upon project restart does not bode well with a measly six clean sheets this season.
The Blues are 15th in the Premier League clean sheet charts and have conceded the most goals out of the current top seven.
A defensively unconvincing restart
Chelsea dominated much of the game in terms of possession against the Villans in the first half before the home side took the lead, albeit massively against the run of play.
The Villa goal stemmed from a delightfully weighted cross by Douglas Luiz into the Chelsea six-yard box. The Blues, sat deep and failed to follow their intended markers at the back post.
There was a loom of uncertainty as the ball flew into the box before Kepa Arrizabalaga, less than convincingly, parried the ball back into the path of an unmarked Kortney Hause to fire home.
Kepa, in all fairness, was relatively helpless in this goal having made an initial good reaction save and the blame was soon aimed at Andreas Christensen.
The Danish centre half failed to tap into his defensive senses and did not follow the danger into a position to which he could have possibly cleared the ball.
Chelsea are ranked seventh for the most goals conceded from set pieces (ten) this Premier League season amongst the likes of relegation-fighting Aston Villa, Norwich and Watford.
Although the goal the Blues conceded to Villa was not a set piece, the positioning was that similar of one, albeit the line is a lot deeper than would be desired.
A situation like this is becoming a reoccurring topic of conversation for the South West London side and the importance in Chelsea prioritising a world-class centre half is ever evident.
Christensen questioned by seasoned professionals
Jamie Redknapp and Graeme Souness were critical of Christensen’s part in Villa’s opening goal questioning his ability to sense danger.
“I don’t think he does well enough,” Redknapp claimed on Sky Sports. “He’s walking back, if he sprints back and tries to make a challenge, I think he clears that ball.
“Look at his position. As a centre back you’ve got to get back, sprint and sense the danger. Can you get the block? Can you defend? Christensen just doesn’t sense the danger.”
Souness paid tribute to the great cross by Villa’s Brazilian number six before questioning the Dane.
“It’s a great ball and a nightmare for defenders,” the Scotsman said. “As soon as the ball goes over Christensen’s head he has to get back in the game, get back goal-side but he doesn’t.
“He was one step away from getting a challenge in at the end.”
Who are Chelsea’s options?
The Blues have been too hot to handle so far this summer in the transfer window picking up world class talent like Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner.
Roman Abramovich does not seem to be putting a halt to his summer spending spree anytime soon with continued links with Ben Chilwell and Kai Havertz.
But, if Abramovich and Lampard were to go for a new centre half, who should they look at? Here are three options that could fit the Chelsea mould.
Dayot Upamecano – The Reasonable Option
Dayot Upamecano is a 21-year-old central defender from RB Leipzig who has been heavily monitored by Arsenal in recent times and is valued at around £34 million.
However, seeing as the Blues have just secured the signature of German talisman, Timo Werner, a deal between the Blues and Leipzig for yet another one of their hot properties looks unlikely.
A similar situation happened last season with Maurizio Sarri. The Italian arrived from Napoli in SW6 looking to bring Jorginho, Dries Mertens and Faouzi Ghoulam across Europe with him. Chelsea were only successful in their pursuit for Jorginho.
Not only is Upamecano physically gifted in terms of height, strength and speed, the young defender is great at playing out from the back – perfect for a Lampard side.
He has made the 5th most passes into the final third in the Bundesliga this season (161) and more than any other player in the league that does not happen to play for Bayern Munich, beating the likes of Jadon Sancho, Axel witsel and many more.
Upamecano has the 7th highest successful dribble completion rate (81.3) in the Bundesliga as well as the 4th best progressive ball carrying distance. This further emulates how he would be perfect for Chelsea bringing the ball out from the back alongside Antonio Rudiger or Fikayo Tomori.
The Frenchman has also won 81.1% of his aerial duels this season making him the second best in the air in Germany.
Lucas Hernandez – The High Risk, High Reward
Lucas Hernandez is a 24-year-old French centre half who plays for Bayern Munich and previously that of defensive tacticians Atletico Madrid.
Hernandez has struggled to hit the ground running in the Bundesliga this season having started almost as many games as he has been substituted on for.
The Frenchman, who can also play left-back, joined Bayern for a whopping £72 million last summer, but a number of factors have limited his playing time.
Hernandez has missed 19 games this season due to injury and, upon return, struggled to re-cement a place in the starting eleven amongst the likes of a versatile David Alaba, Jerome Boateng, and high-flying Alphonso Davies.
He was even shifted into his secondary position, left-back, against Borussia Monchengladbach earlier this season which saw renowned left-back Alaba preferred as a centre back - taking Hernandez' primary position.
Lucas’ defensive statistics in comparison to his French counterpart, Upamecano, are completely overshadowed by the RB Leipzig man.
However, due to his lack of game time this season, looking at Hernandez’s time in Spain with Atletico and Diego Simeone demonstrates his worth and potential.
Should Bayern look to offload Hernandez this summer, signing the left-footed centre half would add a whole new dimension to Chelsea’s defence as well as offer an element of versatility to the Blues' backline.
Ruben Dias – Hefty Transfer Fee, High Reward
Ruben Dias is a 23-year-old centre half playing for Benfica who has excelled this season in the Liga Nos featuring in every single minute of the season so far.
The Portuguese defender has a reported release clause of £87 million and has often been linked with Manchester City and Barcelona in recent times.
He has already made 17 appearances for his country and is on the radars of all top European clubs.
This season, Ruben Dias has made the most passes in the Liga Nos (1733) and the second most accurate long passes (145), demonstrating his ability on the ball to play out from the back. He has also won the sixth greatest number of aerial duels in the league this season.
The Portuguese defender will be highly sought after this summer and certainly a player that will improve any team in Europe.