Chelsea made one of the most expensive squad overhauls in recent times with several big profile names arriving at the Stamford Bridge like Timo Werner, Havertz and Thiago Silva to name a few. Despite the massive cash outflow in the summer, Chelsea find themselves positioned ninth in the Premier League points table.
The Blues were on a nine-game unbeaten run before hitting rock bottom and losing four out of their next six fixtures. The same could be attributed to a few players who have majorly disappointed the Stamford Bridge faithful with their performances this season. The Fourth Official looks into three names in particular whose performances have been underwhelming to say the very least –
N’Golo Kante
The Frenchman is undoubtedly one of the best signings made by Chelsea in recent years. N’Golo Kante has been an absolutely crucial member of the Blues side since his arrival from Leicester City in 2016. However, Kante has struggled big-time this season with his critical errors being pointed out by football pundits on a frequent basis.
Kante was all over the pitch against Manchester City and barely seemed to get a challenge right along with his laziness in tracking back to defend. It will be fair to say that the World Cup winner has impressed in bits and pieces this season, something that is very uncharacteristic of N’Golo Kante.
Mateo Kovacic
Mateo Kovacic was awarded Chelsea’s Player of the Season award last time around but is yet to settle into Frank Lampard’s 4-3-3 formation this season. With over a 100 appearances for Chelsea under his belt in two and half seasons, Kovacic has barely done justice to the money spent by the Blues on him.
The Croatian has not lived up to the expectations this season and it’s high time for him to step up his game and make more of the minutes being given to him. The three-time UEFA Champions League winner has shown his class in the past and it will not be difficult for him to emulate the same.
Timo Werner
The German was in red hot form last season in the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig, but things have changed drastically since his switch to the Premier League. Werner has only scored four goals this season in 17 appearances for the club and has also not scored in his last 12 appearances for the Blues.
A large part of this goal-scoring drought could be attributed to the wider position Werner is being deployed at instead of his natural striker position. In order for that to happen, Lampard would have to do a bit of trial and testing with his formation which might not be in his best interests. Wener’s poor run of form in front of goal has coincided with Chelsea’s dramatic slide in recent weeks.
