Chelsea's early displays show they're still a work in progress
It's been five matches and we still don't really have a grasp of what Antonio Conte is doing at Chelsea. That's not necessarily a bad thing. They have 10 points and sit third in the table, so things are far from disastrous at Stamford Bridge, but it's hard to say exactly what Conte wants from his team. To be fair, Conte may not be sure either.
This is the nature of bringing in a new manager, especially one who is so different than his predecessors. But as we saw in Chelsea's 2-1 loss to Liverpool on Friday, the Blues are very much a work in progress, which is pretty terrifying when you consider how good they managed to look in their first four matches despite some obvious confusion.
The first half against Liverpool was an unmitigated disaster for the Blues. They did absolutely nothing. Their 2-0 halftime deficit could be dismissed as the product of one defensive breakdown and a brilliant strike, but it wasn't as if Chelsea were otherwise good, or even otherwise decent. They were out-numbered in the middle of the pitch and seemed content with it. They let the Reds run right through them in the center, never showed that they knew what to do with the ball as Diego Costa looked bored up top and had a slew of miscommunications defensively. Even Thibaut Courtois, who couldn't be blamed for either goal, saw a harmless shot slip through his hands and end up behind him before he scrambled to grab it a yard in front of the goal line. Everything went poorly.
Chelsea have a bunch of really good players that Conte knows are really good, but still hasn't figured out yet. It's bizarre.
The way Conte handled the Liverpool match was bizarre too. At no point did he seem interested in matching Liverpool's numbers in the middle of the pitch, letting the Reds three-man midfield overwhelm the Blues' two for stretches. Despite Chelsea's struggles, it took Conte more than 80 minutes to make his first substitution and he made three all at once -- a delightful rarity -- but entirely to his second wave of attackers. Conte didn't opt for Michy Batshuayi so Chelsea would have another man in front of goal, which they seemingly needed. None of it really made sense.
That's not to say that Conte got things wrong or isn't doing a good job with Chelsea. They're already a much better team than they were a year ago and even on Friday, they weren't really out-chanced. Out-played through the middle and sloppy, sure, but Liverpool's chances weren't that much better than Chelsea's so how much criticism can you throw at the Blues?
And that's the thing -- it's not so much a criticism of Chelsea or Conte to say it doesn't look like they have it figured out or that we have no idea what they'll do. It's simply the nature of major change, which Conte is bringing to Stamford Bridge, and he's trying to figure out his team as much as anyone else. But Friday was a good reminder that after five matches, Chelsea are still a work in progress.
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