5 concerns for Chelsea fans after the Manchester City defeat

The defending champions suffered a massive defeat at the hands of champions-elect, Manchester City. Bernardo Silva’s 46th-minute goal proved to be the difference between the sides.However, the scoreline of 1-0 doesn’t quite suggest the flow of proceedings at the Etihad Stadium. The Cityzens flew out of the blocks, charged forward in numbers and knocked at the Chelsea back line constantly. Chelsea hardly got going and as a result, failed to register a shot on target.In contrast to Manchester City’s 975 completed passes, Chelsea managed to thread only 392 of them together. In terms of creativity, Antonio Conte’s men were non-existent. They were forced to keep clearing their lines, and City’s high press ensured that the Blues didn’t keep the ball for too long.The likes of Cesc Fabregas and Danny Drinkwater were kept under wraps, which resulted in Eden Hazard’s isolation. The number 9 role choked him for space and killed his creativity. Despite having conceded, there seemed to be a lack of urgency about the away side's style of play and for obvious reasons, City continued to create chances and outclass the Blues in every department. It almost looked like they were happy to sit back and allow City to dictate them.Many would argue that the Italian mastermind's shot-shy tactics were bizarre as far as a team of Chelsea's quality is concerned.Here are five concerns for Chelsea fans at the moment;#1 Poor team selection. Conte should probably use his target men upfrontThis has been happening for quite some time now. Uncharacteristically, Conte hasn’t been picking the right starting XI for crucial clashes. For a manager who is considered to be one of the best in handling players and selecting the right bunch of them, this was very prosaic.Accepting to the media, Conte stated that he made a mistake by fielding Tiemoue Bakayoko in midfield against Watford, a game where they got mauled 4-1 by the Hornets. The Frenchman has faced tons of criticism regarding his defensive presence, lack of composure with the ball and laziness on the pitch.Against Eddie Howe’s team too, the Italian opted for Eden Hazard in the striker’s position again, with Barkley and Pedro on either side of the wings. The wide forwards failed to switch the play, link up with each other or plug in gaps.Most importantly, it killed the essence of Chelsea's midfield, as they vacillated from passing it forward due to the lack of a prominent number nine. Well, this trio based formation can do wonders if the three willingly run in behind each other, rotate themselves accordingly and complement each other. Certainly, that wasn't to be for Eden Hazard and co.In addition, some of his selected options off the bench have been questionable and dubious. In the clash against the Red Devils, Conte removed Hazard and brought on Pedro in the 73rd minute, thereby exhausting their chances of a victory.Against Manchester City, he subbed off Willian before Pedro, which was a poor decision as the Spaniard lacked composure and was rather lacklustre. This lack of dominance going forward is certainly going to affect the fans on a whole new level..

5 concerns for Chelsea fans after the Manchester City defeat

#4 Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois' unlikely contracts