NOT so long ago, Chelsea were being talked about as potential title contenders. The Blues were flying high near the top of the Premier League table and were firing on all cylinders as an attacking outfit. Since then, though, Enzo Maresca’s team have struggled for consistency, crashing out of the FA Cup on Saturday.

Brighton’s 2-1 win over Chelsea was hardly surprising. Not only do the Seagulls have quality all over the pitch, the Blues arrived on the south coast having won just three of their previous nine matches in all competitions. Nonetheless, defeat to Brighton saw Chelsea lose a valuable opportunity to win a trophy this season.

Maresca needs more from his wide players to stop Chelsea’s campaign from crumbling. Pedro Neto and Jadon Sancho started against Brighton on Saturday, but neither were able to make much of an impression on the game. Noni Madueke came off the bench. However, he also struggled.

 

Others might point the finger at Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku to explain Chelsea’s recent failings. The former hasn’t scored in any of his last eight outings while the latter continues to be a misfit in a team that doesn’t play to his strengths. More regular output from the pair would help paper over some of the growing cracks in the Chelsea team.

Defensively, the Blues have also been substandard recently. Indeed, Chelsea have kept a clean sheet just once in their last eight games in all competitions, and that was against Morecambe at home in the FA Cup third round. Injuries haven’t helped, but fans are entitled to expect greater resolution at the back.

Relative to their perceived quality, though, Chelsea are getting the least out of their wingers. While Sancho started the season strongly after joining from Manchester United, he has looked lethargic in his last few performances. Neto scored against West Ham last week, but has generally frustrated this season. The same could be said of Madueke.

With more dynamism and directness in the wide areas, pockets of space could open up for Chelsea in the final third. Opposition defenders would be forced into difficult decisions and the Blues might have more joy in turning tight matches in their favour. They might still be in this season’s FA Cup.

Chelsea are a desperately safe team in an attacking sense. For the most part, Cole Palmer is usually the only player willing to attempt something different with Sancho, Neto and Madueke more likely to pass inside than take someone on down the wing. The Blues are too easy to defend against.

This goes some way to explaining why Chelsea were so interested in Alejandro Garnacho during the January transfer window. Ultimately, Manchester United weren’t willing to sell the Argentinean, but Garnacho would have given Chelsea a different dimension in the wide areas such is his instinct to take on a man and burst into space.

 

With the transfer window now closed until the summer, Maresca will have to work with the wingers he has until the end of the season. Sancho will never be an up-and-down winger, but he has the technical ability to be an important creative figure for Chelsea. He needs to show more of that quality.

Neto has the speed to be more explosive on the ball and so Maresca must do all he can to get the Portuguese international into more dangerous positions on a regular basis. Madueke might be the most rounded of Chelsea’s current wide options, but the 22-year-old could still sharpen his instincts in and around the box. The Blues need more reliable difference-makers. 

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