(Football news) Chelsea crashed out of the Champions League with a 4-0 aggregate defeat to Real Madrid, a result that pretty much summed up their entire season. The Blues are currently 11th in the Premier League in what has been nothing short of an embarrassing season with Lampard losing four games out of four since taking over as interim manager after Graham Potter was sacked.
It’s astounding to think that Chelsea have spent £600m on a number of high profile players, but their transfer strategy has been so bizarre that they lack the single most important quality: Goals. While their performance against Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge was the best under Lampard, the many presentable opportunities that must be converted, especially in the case of a comeback were simply not capitalised on because of their lack of finishing.
Chelsea lacked a recognised striker, which meant that the chances that fell on midfielder N’Golo Kante and left back Marc Cucurella were missed, resulting in the inevitable consequence of elimination. It was next to impossible to manage a comeback victory against Real Madrid if a side fails to take it’s opportunities, a factor that we saw in the Los Blancos’ match against Manchester City last season. This result has basically ended Chelsea’s season and they won’t make it to the Champions League next year, which means all they can hope for is finishing in the top half of the league.
Chelsea are yet to identify and appoint a new permanent manager but the issue lies not at the dugout but the hierarchy. Boehly and co. have built a disjointed and broken team that look like a set of expensively assembled individuals who don’t operate as a unit. The responsibility will now shift to co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart who are in charge of appointing a new manager. Chelsea’s season has been nothing short of chaotic and there will need to be a drastically different approach if things are to improve next season.
Also read: Real Madrid win 4-0 on aggregate courtesy of Rodrygo’s brace
