World Soccer - UK (2022-01)

LukakuandChelseastillwaitingtoclickahead

ofakeymonthinthePremierLeaguetitlerace

ForChelsea,andthe PremierLeague

titlerace,January looks a vitalmonth,

withgamesagainstLiverpooland

ManchesterCityfollowedbya clash

withAntonioConte’sTottenham.The

assumptioninthe earlyweeks of the

seasonwas thatitwas Chelseawho

wouldprovidethemainchallengeto

thedefendingchampionsManchester

City:a ChampionsLeague-winning

teamplusRomeluLukakuseemed

a winningformula.Butalthough

Chelseahavestartedwell,it hasn’t

quite workedout like that.

Therewasa clearshift as soon

asThomasTuchelreplacedFrank

Lampard in January 20 21.Chelsea

concededjust 13 goalsin 19 Premier

Leaguegamesunderhimlast season

asopposedto 23 inthefirst 1 9.They

becamemuchbetteratcombatting

oppositionsetplaysand,otherthan

thatfreakish5-2defeattoWest

BromwichAlbion,hada midfield

structurethatenabledthem

topreventcounter-attacks.

Andtheywereflexible:Tuchel

isnaturallyinclinedtoplayingin

transition,butheisnotsuchan

advocate of thehighpressasthe

manhesucceeded at bothMainz

andBorussiaDortmund,Jurgen

Klopp.IntheChampionsLeague

semi-finalagainst RealMadrid,

theywereabletositdeepand,

attimes,play more of a

possession-basedgame.

Theonlyissuewasgoals:only

23 scoredinthatfinalhalf of the

PremierLeagueseason.Inpart

thatwasdownto TimoWerner’s

astonishingprofligacy– his 78 goals

acrossfourBundesliga seasonsfor

RBLeipziglookweirdlyanachronistic

now,andperhapshintat a wider

sense thatthere is asignificant

stepinqualityfromthe Bundesliga to

thePremierLeague– butitwas also

becauseofa lackofcreativity,inpart

downtoa cautiousnessinpossession

throughmidfield.Theadditionof

Lukakuseemedaneasysolution:he

had,afterall,scored 24 league goals

forInternazionalethe previous

season,asopposedtoWerner’s

return of justsix.

AndLukakubeganwell. Butas

itturnsout,bullyingArsenaland

stealinga coupleofgoalsagainst

THEWORLD THISMONTH

Aston Villaisn’tnecessarilyreplicable

acrosstheseasonasa whole.More

troublingly, Chelsea probably looked

better in thosegamesinlateOctober

andearlyNovemberinwhichLukaku

wasabsentwith an ankleinjury –

albeitagainstweakeroppositionand

inspite of thefacttheysomehow

didn’tbeatBurnleydespiteabarrage

ofearlypressure.TheuseofKai

Havertzas a falsenine,asheplayed

inthe Champions Leaguefinal,

seemedtogivethema greater

flexibilityandfluidity.

Itis,ofcourse,stillearly. Nobody

issuggestingthatLukakuisa failure

orthathis second spellatChelsea

willbea flop.But what is clearisthat

footballis notassimpleastakinga

Notclicking...

Lukaku’s second

spellatStamford

Bridge hasn’t

gonetoplan

Troublingly, Chelseaprobablylookedbetterin

thosegamesinlateOctoberandearlyNovember

inwhichLukakuwasabsentwithanankleinjury

TECHNICALLYSPEAKING

Jonathan

WILSON