The striker conundrum at Chelsea FC

Seven games played in the league and Chelsea still haven’t figured out who should be their main frontman this season. It’s amazing how our so-called strikers are yet to score in the league and overall have managed to find the net just twice. In fact, our top scorer last season Fernando Torres has scored two goals (one against Bayern and one against Swindon).

The only notable contribution of our strikers in the premier league is an assist from Demba Ba. A team of Chelsea’s class needs a goal machine, a team which challenges every tournament it plays deserves better than the current lot.

Torres has been just horrible. His stint at Chelsea has been a failure. It’s been typical Torres, one step forward and two steps back. His inspired performance in the second half at White Hart Lane followed by his sending off and injury.

Eto’o is past his prime, and what looked like a panic buy has gone horribly wrong as well. He doesn’t look too sharp, has lost considerable pace and to make matters worse, takes forever to get rid of the ball. Ba has always played second fiddle to Torres and Eto’o and whatever little chance he has got he has failed to impress. His recent game against Norwich is just a reminder of how good he is, and he deserves to play for Chelsea but consistency is the key.

Chelsea has scored a total of 19 goals as of now and 10 in the league. Our top scorer being Oscar with 3 in the league and 4 in all. For a team whose midfielders have always done well, it isn’t really surprising.

2009-10 was the last season when a striker was our top scorer; Didier Drogba managed to win the golden boot that season. After that, it’s been pretty much a midfield show with the strikers pitching in every now and then.

2010-2011 saw Malouda score 13, the highest. 2011-12 saw Lampard score the most with 11. 2012-13 saw Lampard again with 15. These stats can be misleading as Lampard is our designated penalty taker and almost always does well. Even otherwise it’s been pretty lackluster from our men up front.

The stats suggest it is not just Mourinho, it has been a concern for quite some time now. The surprising thing is it could have all changed this year. Romelu Lukaku was the answer. But the decision to loan him out has made sure we suffer for one more season at least.

I personally felt too much was being made of his age. So what if he’s only 20? If he can score, it’s good enough. Every goal he scores for Everton is a reminder of what could have been if he only stayed.

With the players we have it is difficult to see how we can do well. Qualifying for CL is one thing but for a club like Chelsea, with a manager like Mourinho and more so an owner like Roman Abramovich just qualifying will not do.

So the options left with Mou are to be actively involved in the January market, play Schurrle as false 9 (like against Man Utd), hope and pray Torres and Co. improve or call back Lukaku (less likely because Mourinho still thinks he is not good enough).

The most viable option would be to buy a striker (duh-uh!). Looking at the options after Rooneys’s failed bid we have Yilmaz, Benzema and Benteke among the more realistic targets.

At no. 3 in the league and at a precarious position in the CL group stage it is surely exciting but a little too scary to be honest. It is up to Mou to pull something out of his hat, a quality striker perhaps.

It’s not like Chelsea haven’t done well without a striker. We have done it before, but the league is more competitive this year, and we will need the firepower. Anyway there is no reason why we shouldn’t be hopeful.