"I thought I saw the Academy team" - Pundits highlights 4 major Chelsea flaws after dismal 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest 

Former France centre-back Frank Leboeuf has slammed Chelsea after their 1-0 Premier League defeat against Nottingham Forest on Saturday (2 September).

The Blues fans would have been confident about their team's chances considering the game was at Stamford Bridge. But the new signing Anthony Elanga silenced the home crowd three minutes into the second half.

The goal resulted from a heavy touch by Moises Caicedo, who lost the ball in a crucial area leading to a quick counterattack. Taiwo Awoniyi slid in a sumptuous pass between Thiago Silva's legs to Elanga, who made no mistake with his finish.

The Blues did create their fair share of chances, with the easiest one falling to Nicolas Jackson in the 83rd minute. But the Senegal international skied his effort over the bar with a gaping goal in front of him.

Chelsea have now won just two out of their last 16 Premier League games. Nottingham Forest's win was also their first against Chelsea across competitions in more than 26 years.

After the game, an angy Leboeuf highlighted the four main issues he saw with the team and said on ESPN FC (h/t @Chels_HQ on X):

"We are seeing the same Chelsea we saw last season. Same issues: not able to score goals or even create, no change of pace. A lack of experience — big time. I thought I saw the Academy team this afternoon."

Chelsea are now 11th in the table with just four points from their opening four league games.

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Mauricio Pochettino says Chelsea deserved more against Nottingham Forest

Mauricio Pochettino believes Chelsea were dominant at home against Nottingham Forest and should have walked away with something from the game.

Chelsea kept 77% possession but were highly wasteful up front, managing to get just two of their 21 shots on target. According to FotMob, their xG of 2.30 massively trumped Nottingham's 0.76 but the Tricky Trees led in the only statistic that mattered at the end of the day.

After the game, the Argentine tactician said, via Football.London:

"This type of game will help us be more mature. It's not only to have quality, it's about competing in a different way. Of course, we were better, we cannot say we didn't deserve more but the stats reflects what you do, we create but didn't score, few shots on target, should be more."

Chelsea's spending has crossed the €1 billion mark since the Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital takeover last year. However, the results are yet to do justice to the level of investment by the new owners in the team.