CHELSEA 1 - 1 LEICESTER CITY - REVIEW

CHELSEA 1 - 1 LEICESTER CITY  REVIEW 

It was not the result Frank Lampard would of wanted on his return to The Bridge with a disappointing 1-1 draw against a fellow top 6 competitor. There was still a shining light in the game with Mason Mount getting on the scoresheet for his first ever professional Chelsea goal but Lampard's Chelsea still remain without a win... 

Match Review...

Right from the whistle Chelsea looked on top. We were pressing quickly, our passing was slick, we were competing and winning every ball in the air and were finally rewarded with a fantastic Mason Mount solo goal in the opening 7th minutes when Mount tackled holding midfielder N'didi to go on and finish the ball whilst appearing to trip over. 

It was a good start... up until the 35th minute. Chelsea seemed to of left the door ajar and allowed pressure to rise leaving Leicester with lots of possession in the last 15 minutes of the first half and were causing some alarming problems for the Chelsea midfield and defence. 

The second half was overall dreadful from a Chelsea point of view - We looked tired (possibly because of our midweek clash in Istanbul) but we didn't have any decent spells of possession and Leicester were by far the better team and were probably unlucky not to get the win on the night. 

Dominated in the Midfield...

The first 35 minutes were really good to watch, I felt this is how the football would of be played under Sarri with the quick tempo, quick pressing and pleasing attacking play but then we released the gas and Leicester took full advantage of that. 

 I felt we were playing in a 4-3-3 with Jorginho playing in his regista role again but I felt almost sorry for him as he was the only the only midfielder attempting to defend trying to making challenges with no help from Kante or Mount. It was a similar display against Man United in the midfield but the only difference between Leicester and Man United is that United were more clinical when going forward. 

Pedro was the only winger I saw attempting to get back to help defend but probably made things worse after he kept losing possession of the ball due to Leicester's heavy two man press whilst Pulisic looked tired and didn't seem bothered on his defensive duties. 

For Kante, he looked tired too. When attempting to get back he looked slow and sluggish. Maybe a result of playing 120 midweek but didn't look like the player we were use too who is full of energy and covering every inch of the pitch. 

Positives and negatives from the defence...

Defensively I was happier with the performance but then again in certain areas worried too. The more positive side of our defence were definitely our centre backs. Kurt Zouma is growing in confidence, there was a time in the match where he just cleared the ball into row Z with no messing about whereas against United he may of taken an extra touch but I am still a little nervy when he was on the ball. 

Christensen is by far the player I am happiest with the most this season. He looked decisive, he looked strong, he actually looks quick and is yet to make any mistake so far and that's including pre-season too. Once Rudiger is back to pair alongside Christensen, I feel we will have a much more stable and confident defence. 

For Kepa, I don't think he has had the greatest starts of the season as everyone may think. Despite his wonder double save against Salah and Van Dijk midweek, to me he looks quite far from the Worlds Most Expensive Goalkeeper label. Against Liverpool, he looked really slow off his line, he didn't look the most confident when coming out for corners and his passing accuracy has been no where near the heights of last season. Against Leicester it was just the same.

Emerson at left back again was absolutely fantastic! Could be the strongest left back we've had since the recent retiring Ashley Cole. He was so quick and strong and refused to give up on any ball! Weirdly that is the area I was most worried about for this season but maybe my worries should of lied on the other side of the full back position...

Azpilicueta near the end?

Azpilicueta has been by far Chelsea's most important defender in the last 8 seasons but I think it's fair to say his Chelsea day's might be over. He looked slow, he was constantly out of position in the second half with Christensen covering for him constantly and when I saw him track back, there was no real urgency about it. Not to mention that he was arguably a big fault for Leicester's equaliser allowing N'didi to have a full run up and getting the best of him in the air. 

 Azpi has now lost possession of the ball a staggering 63 times in 3 games with him losing the ball 18 times on Sunday. As much as I love Azpilicueta and what a servant for the club he has been but I think he may be passed his best to be a starting Chelsea defender and I hope that Reece James' recovery be a very quick one. 

OVERALL SUM UP 

Overall, Chelsea were lucky to come away with a point and Leicester are probably feeling a little hard done by. 

Maddison was my Man of The Match being a constant thorn in Chelsea's side - Full of energy and should of scored at least twice with the chances he had. He also set up Jamie Vardy in behind and was unlucky not to continue his goal-scoring record against a Top 4 Side. 

When I heard the news that Ben Chilwell was unable to play I was much more confident about our chances of winning but replacement Christian Fuchs put in one stunning performance for his Leicester side by stopping an almost certain goal against his former team mate N'Golo Kante and also being a dangerous threat when going forward. 

I think it's fair to say that it is a performance the Chelsea players will want to forget about quite quickly. Substitutes Willian, Kovacic and Abrahams brought nothing when coming on. Willian yet again can't beat his first man when taking corners and continued to lose the ball with no heart to try and win the ball back. Kovacic and Abraham were invisible to me bringing nothing to the game whatsoever. 

Chelsea fans have got to realise that this is going to be a long season with probably more lows than highs. Its a young team, players need to develop and results maybe won't go our way. Chelsea just need to take their chances when they are on top and stay stable in the midfield. I have all my confidence in Frank Lampard and the backroom staff but don't forget Blues...we lost this fixture last season!!! 

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