While Chelsea have an outstanding amount of talent in midfield, and also a solid looking defence with options in numbers, will their slack frontline be the area that costs them the Premier League title?
The Blues currently sit in third in the table, just two points behind Arsenal and Liverpool who are joint top, but there’s a blatant hole in the forward areas of the pitch.
Let’s be honest, Jose Mourinho didn’t inherit a very strong arsenal in attack, but he got rid of the one player who could have made all the difference this season, in my opinion – Romelu Lukaku.
The big Belgian has already hit four goals in three league games for Everton – who snapped him up on a season long loan deal – while 0, yes ZERO, of Chelsea’s current strikers have found the net in the opening eight games.
Fernando Torres’ movement has looked sharp at point this season, but when he isn’t clawing opponent’s face then it’s likely that he’ll be spurning opportunities. He has only had four shots in his five games this season, and a pass accuracy of just 65%.
So, what about the forward that Mourinho drafted in this summer, Samuel Eto’o? With nearly 300 goals in his 500+ games during his career, you’d have thought he would hit the ground running, no? That’s not been the case, and his age is inevitably catching up on him. The Cameroon international has had eight shots, scored no goals and has looked largely out of his depth so far, which is sad to say.
The only other real option up top is Demba Ba, whose managed just two appearances – both of which he’s been subbed off. He’s had five shots at goal but looked sluggish when on the pitch.
The style that Chelsea play means there will always be goals in the side – the likes of Juan Mata, Oscar, Andre Schurrle, Eden Hazard and Frank Lampard – but I think Mourinho needs a strong centre-forward to lead the line.
Oh, Romelu.