"They need someone to guide them" - William Gallas says one key area of Chelsea squad is not good

Former France William Gallas defender has questioned why Chelsea did not sufficiently reinforce their defense this summer. The pundit has criticized the Blues for not finding a suitable replacement for Thiago Silva.

The Brazilian defender joined the west Londoners in 2020 and was a marquee center-back and leader for the club, helping them win the UEFA Champions League during the 2020-21 campaign. While Chelsea have seen substantial struggle since that victory, Silva continued to lead the defensive line.

Now that the 39-year-old has departed Stamford Bridge, Gallas feels the Blues are missing an elite center-back. He said (via SPTC):

“If you want to be a successful club, if you want to challenge and compete in the Premier League, you must have a good defence. The Chelsea defence isn’t good. I can’t understand how the club can allow Thiago Silva to go and not think that they need to bring in someone that can run the backline with authority."

The former Arsenal defender added:

“The Chelsea defence is missing a top-class centre back. It’s too much to expect Levi Colwill and Wesley Fofana to run the defence, they’re both promising players, but they need someone to guide them."

"It’s always the same problem. If you don’t have good defenders, if you don’t have a strong base, you can score goals but you’re going to concede goals, and you will drop points. That’s what happened against Crystal Palace."

The Blues will next face Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday (September 14).

"They don’t have that confidence anymore" - William Gallas criticizes Chelsea for Crystal Palace draw

The west London outfit have had a rather mixed start to the 2024-25 Premier League campaign under new manager Enzo Maresca. After losing 2-0 to Manchester City in a difficult opening fixture, the Blues bounced back with a dominant 6-2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The west Londoners then split the points with Crystal Palace in a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge. Gallas believes the Blues have lost their confidence after seeing so many changes in the squad over the past two years. He said (via the aforementioned outlet's report):

“As a Chelsea fan, especially after beating Wolves 2-6, you would be right to think that your club, after everything you’ve seen from them, everything you’re used to historically, is going to beat Palace at home. Chelsea fans would look at that fixture three years ago and think, that’s three points."

"They don’t have that confidence anymore. They are so inconsistent, but that is what you get when you make so many changes and are missing top, top players in key positions. There will be matches where everything clicks, but there will be more matches where it doesn’t."