English Premier League: Assessing Chelsea’s needs for the summer transfer window of 2010 (Part 2)
After shedding some light on the goalkeeping department at Chelsea and the possible improvements that be made with regard to Petr Cech’s backup and Ross Turnbull’s speculative promotion into first team action, it is now time to
take a look at the Blues’ defence which has once again been impervious in the 2010-2011 season.
Defence
Last season, Chelsea were the best defensive side in the English Premier League. The Blues marched to a title in the 2009-2010 season. Little has changed in the 2010-2011 season apart from the fact that Chelsea are no longer the
English Premier League champions as Manchester United defeated them at Old Trafford to clinch their 19th top flight title win. Nonetheless, Chelsea’s defence is on a statistical level a much better one than Manchester United’s back four.
Last season after having played 38 matches, Chelsea had only conceded 32 goals. This time they have played 37 matches so far and conceded the same number of goals. There is no clear deterioration in their defensive performances
but Chelsea suffered from lack of defensive cover when http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alex-c4752 did cover for the Englishman but the Blues went on a terrible run of form partially due to
the lack of understanding between the two defenders.
In the 2011 January transfer window, Chelsea spent big and brought in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/England-c749 and took no time to settle in. In central defence,
Luiz has impressed thus far but he is still finding his feet and adapting his game to the fast paced English Premier League. This was evident through his mistake which allowed Javier Hernandez to score for Manchester United when they met Chelsea in their title
deciding encounter. Regardless with Luiz’s arrival, Chelsea’s central http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Defence-c38904 looks like a secure unit.
However same cannot be said about their wing back positions. Branislav Ivanovic played as Chelsea’s right back for most of the 2010-2011 season. The Serbian defender was solid at the back but his lack of ability in the opposition’s
half of the field is already well documented. On the other wing, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 do need back-ups for their right backs, especially in the case of Ivanovic whose lack of vision
on the ball becomes a liability when Chelsea come up against technically astute sides as well as lesser sides who look to defend deep.
Jose Bosingwa and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ferreira-c13712
has never been a quality defender in the first place. A good option for Chelsea would be to part ways with one of them and to bring in a good full back who can compliment Luiz and Terry’s defensive steel by venturing forward and keeping it tight at the back.
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