Chelsea’s ‘gaping holes’ identified after Neville tears into ‘poor in every way’ players | OneFootball

Chelsea’s 3-1 defeat to Leeds left Gary Neville saying there are ‘gaping holes’ in any title bid but how do Enzo Maresca and co. plug them?

Chelsea’s Premier League hopes fizzled out almost as quickly as they bubbled up after a morale-sapping defeat at Elland Road and Neville all but dismissed any hope of a title bid post-match.

“I don’t think they can win the title,” the Sky Sports commentator said. “In fact, I don’t think they’ve got a chance. Chelsea do have some gaping holes when you see title-winning teams.”

But where are those holes? Well, the first place to start is between the sticks, where Maresca has a decision to make.

Heading into the season, Robert Sanchez was seen by some as a liability, but the underlying numbers so far this campaign suggest he is steadier than the general impression.

Only Dean Henderson and David Raya have kept more clean sheets and according to FBREF, his post-shot expected goals minus goals conceded (i.e. how many goals he is expected to save minus how many he lets in) is better than the likes of Raya and Gianluigi Donnarumma.

But the defeat against Leeds showed Sanchez at his worst and a keeper who is capable of a mistake. The first goal, albeit a strong header, was close enough to the Spaniard for there to be a suggestion that he should have saved. The second he could do little about but the third was very preventable.

As co-commentator on the game, those two failures were what prompted the critique from Neville.

“The goalkeeper is not good enough to be a title-winning goalkeeper,” he said, which is a fair point. Of the title-winning goals in recent years, all of them have been reliable in a way that Sanchez is not.

It also comes after a summer when a surprising number of quality goalkeepers were available. City signed Donnarumma for £26m, just £1m more than what Chelsea paid for Sanchez, with relatively little fuss. Manchester United seemed to have struck gold with Senne Lammens. Even James Trafford, who looked shaky in his limited City appearances, would have been an upgrade or at least a keeper you can see improve in the future.

But while they cannot cry over milk they never had in a bowl, Chelsea must decide whether to act in January or hope that Sanchez left all his mistakes in Yorkshire.

If they do act, there are a few obvious candidates. Chelsea have long held an interest in Milan keeper Mike Maignan and with his contract expiring next summer, they may be able to get him for a bargain price in January if doubts over Sanchez remain.

Another option is Dortmund’s Gregor Kobel but the German club is said to value the 27-year-old close to the €70 million mark.

As well as the keeper, Neville also took issue with the centre-backs, which have been the hallmark of Chelsea title-winning teams over the years.

Tosin Adarabioyo was at fault for Leeds’ third and Levi Colwill’s continued trouble with injuries mean there are few established leaders in the squad’s centre-back options. Of the back line, it is at full back where Chelsea have the most depth.

In terms of recruitment, Marc Guehi is the most eligible bachelor on the market but it is hard to see a scenario in which the England international would choose Chelsea over the likes of Real Madrid or Bayern Munich. It is even harder to see any scenario in which Palace greenlight a January move.

Another option Chelsea have been linked with is Nottingham Forest’s Murillo, but reports suggest Forest want an eye-watering £70m for him.

In Europe, Dortmund’s Nico Schlotterbeck is catching the eye of the top clubs meaning Chelsea would have to put in a strong bid to prevent the 26-year-old moving to the interested Barcelona.

Chelsea’s woes are not confined to defence either. As Didier Drogba and Diego Costa show, Chelsea’s best seasons come with an established goalscoring number 9, something that they currently do not have.

That issue is certainly not through a lack of spending. In the summer, Chelsea spent £60m to bring Joao Pedro to the Bridge from Brighton but the Brazilian has always been a streaky player and not one you would describe as a consistent goalscorer.

In his two seasons at Brighton, he scored nine league goals in his first year and 10 in his second. His best tally for a single season came in the 2022-23 Championship with Watford and even that was only 11. In that same season, Viktor Gyökeres scored 21.

The longest goalscoring run Pedro has had in his career is three games, so is there any real surprise that he is joint 11th in the league top scorers so far this season?

The £30m signing of Liam Delap could be described as one for the future, but even with that caveat, the club would have been expecting more than zero goals and zero assists in the seven matches he has played so far.

Chelsea’s main goal threat this year comes from the wings with Pedro Neto the club’s top scorer on five. Away from him, Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Trevoh Chalobah all being in the top five shows how the club are lacking a top striker.

Having a 25-goal-a-season striker is arguably not as important in the modern game as it was decades ago as Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, some of Pep Guardiola’s City teams and Mikel Arteta’s current Arsenal prove, but when a team is stalling, it is easy to point to the lack of one as a problem.

Another problem is that signing strikers is the most expensive purchase teams make and there is a definite lack of top number 9s in the world. Away from Erling Haaland and Harry Kane, Chelsea would be settling for a drop in quality or another unproven youngster if they strengthened this position in January.

These are questions that the Chelsea hivemind will be considering and while the club can boast some of the league’s best players in Moises Caicedo and Cole Palmer, Neville is right that Chelsea are still some way off being a serious title contender.