2 reasons why Chelsea might continue to struggle in the upcoming season

Chelsea endured a forgettable Premier League campaign in the 2022-23 season. They finished 12th in the league table, having lost 16 of their 38 matches. Frank Lampard was re-appointed as the caretaker manager of the club after the sacking of Thomas Tuchel and then Graham Potter. He later made way for Mauricio Pochettino, who had a good track-record while managing Tottenham Hotspur up until a few seasons ago.

However, a lot of players have left the Blues before the start of the next season. N’Golo Kante, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mateo Kovacic, Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic, Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly have already left and Romelu Lukaku is also about to do so.

In such a scenario, Pochettino has an unenviable job at hand. In this article, we will take a look at two reasons why the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League winners might once again struggle next season.

#1 Over reliance on defensive players

Fulham Chelsea Soccer

Chelsea could be a bit too reliant on their defensive players to perform well in the upcoming season. The likes of Thiago Silva, Trevoh Chalobah, Reece James and Ben Chilwell are all quality players. However, an over-dependence on them might not be very desirable, as an injury to any one of them might land Chelsea in trouble.

Silva will be 39 next season and it is a bit too much to expect him to lead a defence at that age. The Blues will once against also rely a lot on James and Chilwell to make their overlapping runs and play crosses into the opposition penalty box.

With the departures of Kovacic and Kante, there will be holes to plug in the midfield as well. Enzo Fernandez could not quite do justice to his humongous price tag last season and the onus will be on him to perform again. Moises Caicedo is poised to come to Stamford Bridge (as per GOAL) and the Blues will be desperate to get that deal done.

Should Caicedo come from Brighton & Hove Albion, he will be able to share some of the workload with Fernandez in Chelsea’s midfield.

#2 Lack of experience in attack

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Chelsea FC - Premier League

Chelsea’s attacking unit will be terribly short of experience next season, with only Raheem Sterling possessing a considerable amount of it. The likes of Mykhailo Mudryk, Ian Maatsen and Nicolas Jackson do not have much experience of playing in the Premier League and could be found wanting. Mudryk played 17 games across competitions last season for the Blues and couldn't get himself on the scoresheet.

Their top scorer from last season, Kai Havertz (9G, 1A) has left the club and joined Premier League rivals Arsenal. Similarly, Mason Mount did reasonably in a bad overall last season (3G, 6A), but has also left the club. To make matters worse for the Blues, Christopher Nkunku suffered an injury in a pre-season friendly that might sideline him for months (as per GOAL).

Hence, the Blues might struggle to score goals in the upcoming season. Chelsea start their league campaign against Liverpool next Sunday, 13 August and their preparations ahead of do not augur very well.