One of the more worrying things about Chelsea’s defeat at Elland Road was not the result itself, but the re-emergence of bad habits.
Having been on a run of four games unbeaten, this was the first time since their 2-2 draw at Qarabag in the Champions League at the start of November that Enzo Maresca’s team had looked so frustrated at their errors.
Robert Sanchez’s reaction to Leeds United’s third goal summed it up. Most of his anger seemed to be directed towards referee Darren England, believing he had been fouled, when it really should have been towards Tosin Adarabioyo. The centre-back had gifted Leeds their chance to kill the game, taking a heavy touch in his area, which Noah Okafor pounced on and Dominic Calvert-Lewin eventually converted.
It reflected a game in which Chelsea seemed inexplicably taken aback by Leeds’ ferocity and urgency, failing to stand up for themselves in duels and being careless with the ball. That was the story of Leeds’ second goal too, when Enzo Fernandez failed to control Tosin’s slightly mishit pass and gave the ball away just outside Chelsea’s box.
Fatigue after facing Barcelona and Arsenal in quick succession may well have played a part in the looseness, but this was not a one-off. It is reminiscent of problems earlier in the season.
Chelsea’s poor disciplinary record in September and October has been well documented, but it is not the only way they were causing their own problems. Shakiness under pressure at the back was a repeated theme. Tosin was the poster boy against Leeds, but he is not the only player to make costly errors.
A lack of composure began to rear its head away to Bayern Munich in the Champions League. All three of Bayern’s goals could be traced back to Chelsea errors, the last being the most telling when Malo Gusto panicked under pressure and misplaced a backwards pass straight into the path of a grateful Harry Kane.
Ten days later, Chelsea fell to another 3-1 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion; Andrey Santos’ heavy touch forced Trevoh Chalobah into a challenge that saw him sent off, and Chelsea never truly recovered.
How precarious they were under pressure is shown below, when Yankuba Minteh forced Reece James and Josh Acheampong to play team-mates into trouble in quick succession. The sequence ends with Danny Welbeck scoring Brighton’s third.
There is an argument that building up patiently from the back invites pressure, and errors are a natural side effect. That goes some way to explaining how opposition high presses have yielded errors from Chelsea, as in the above example against Brighton, or even Leeds’ second goal.
As seen below, Tosin is under pressure when trying to find Fernandez through a thicket of opponents.
But some of their mistakes are born out of carelessness. Tosin’s error for Leeds’ third is such an example.
There was another early in the second half when Leeds had a goal disallowed. Sanchez tried to play through a congested centre and accidentally gave the ball to Anton Stach, rather than finding a wide option like Marc Cucurella, who was in much more space. That poor decision-making saw them cede possession in a dangerous area, and only the assistant referee stopped Leeds from restoring a two-goal advantage.
Chelsea are the fourth-worst team in the Premier League for losing the ball in their own defensive third, behind Fulham, Aston Villa, and Tottenham Hotspur. This map shows where they have done so.
What is intriguing is that for a while, Chelsea looked as though they were fixing the problems. The table below shows how, after a peak in them giving the ball away near their own goal against Brighton, that trend tailed off.
OpponentResultPossession lost in def thirdLeading to shotsLeading to goals
CRY
D 0-0
1
0
0
WHU
W 5-1
1
0
0
FUL
W 2-0
4
1
0
BRE
D 2-2
4
0
0
MUN
L 1-2
6
1
1
BHA
L 1-3
9
3
1
LIV
W 2-1
7
1
0
NFO
W 3-0
5
2
0
SUN
L 1-2
4
1
0
TOT
W 1-0
6
0
0
WOL
W 3-0
2
2
0
BUR
W 2-0
1
0
0
ARS
D 1-1
2
0
0
LEE
L 1-3
8
3
2
There are plausible reasons why Chelsea’s soft underbelly came back at Elland Road. They seemed unprepared for the physicality and ferocity of the fixture. Leeds and their supporters were fired up by the switch to a back five, the system that had almost delivered them a result against Manchester City.
Chelsea were without key players in James, who was rested, and the suspended Moises Caicedo, while many of the line-up had no real experience of a fixture like this. By Maresca’s admission, 18-year-old Estevao was given a “welcome to the Premier League” in his physical battle with Gabriel Gudmundsson before being taken off at half-time.
Chelsea are still trying to find consistency at centre-back. Chalobah and Wesley Fofana had started three of Chelsea’s past five games together, including against Barcelona and Arsenal, hinting that they could be the first-choice pair going forward. Developing a settled partnership, after using several combinations throughout the opening weeks, will surely help. Maresca will also hope the re-emergence of an element of chaos in Chelsea’s defence is a one-off.
If Chelsea drop out of the Premier League title race because Arsenal are simply too strong to give them any ground, that is one thing. Falling away because of their own errors would be another.
