Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 Chelsea 0
A glance at the Premier League table will do nothing to improve Thomas Tuchel’s mood. Chelsea had arrived at Molineux full of righteous fury after their failed request for this game to be postponed and although Tuchel’s side did not respond by throwing their toys out of the pram, it was difficult to find many positives after 90 minutes of toil against Wolves cast further doubt on their ability to keep up with Manchester City and Liverpool.
In the end the only bright spot for an irritable Tuchel, who had seven players out with Covid-19, was that his depleted team refused to wilt after a difficult start. Otherwise it was another tale of frustration for the European champions. This was another spluttering display in attack and Tuchel will wonder if Chelsea have the ruthlessness to catch City, who are six points ahead of them.
Under pressure after an underwhelming run, Chelsea began to feel that the universe was conspiring against them after the league refused to lift the tally of weekend cancellations up to seven. Was it right to play on?
Chelsea argued to the contrary given that they only had four outfield players on the bench after Kai Havertz, Jorginho and Ruben Loftus-Cheek became the latest to go into quarantine. The sense of injustice had clearly got to Tuchel, who cut an agitated figure on the touchline from the start, his exasperation there for all to see when a slack Reece James was hounded off the ball by Fernando Marçal during the early stages.
There was little to lift Tuchel’s mood during an unconvincing first half. Chelsea, who had seen Ben Chilwell, Romelu Lukaku, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Timo Werner test positive before their costly draw with Everton last Thursday, were skittish in possession from the start and they were fortunate not to be behind after 15 minutes. João Moutinho was allowed to advance unchallenged through midfield and Tuchel’s reaction was volcanic when Marçal overlapped on the left and zipped a low cross to the far post, where Daniel Podence was waiting to guide the ball into Edouard Mendy’s empty net.
Enraged by Chelsea’s defensive shape disappearing so easily, Tuchel hopped up and down before returning to the dugout to rant at his assistants. The German seemed liable to erupt at any moment and even the sight of the linesman’s flag going up for offside against Raúl Jiménez, who had tried to convert Marçal’s centre before it found Podence, did not bring him much cheer.
As half-time approached, Tuchel was sitting glumly on the bench. Wolves were on top, with Leander Dendoncker, Rúben Neves and Moutinho shading the midfield battle, and they could have been ahead. Mendy was forced to make an important intervention to push a loose ball away from Jiménez and an unmarked Dendoncker headed straight at Chelsea’s goalkeeper.
If there was an encouraging note for Chelsea, though, it was that they did not give too much away. César Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva and Antonio Rüdiger offered experience at the back and N’Golo Kanté, pressed into action earlier than Tuchel would have liked, occasionally looked dynamic on his first appearance since November 23rd. Trevoh Chalobah, meanwhile, was battling hard next to Kanté.
Yet this is not the midfield that Tuchel, who was also without the injured Andreas Christensen, would have gone with in normal circumstances. It spoke volumes that he preferred to go with an underpowered Kanté and the inexperienced Chalobah instead of Saúl Niguez and Ross Barkley, the latter pair being experienced, expensive internationals.
That selection decision had nothing to do with Covid-19 and everything to do with the way that Chelsea have managed their squad; after all nobody forced the European champions to send Billy Gilmour and Conor Gallagher out on loan before borrowing Saúl from Atletico Madrid for the season.
Chelsea, who also decided not to add any under-23 players to the senior squad here, could not afford to feel sorry for themselves. What they needed was a goal. Saúl came on for Chalobah at half-time and there was more urgency from the visitors after the break.
For long spells, however, it was hard to see how Chelsea hoped to find a way through Bruno Lage’s organised back three. There was no bite in attack with their forwards all absent. Christian Pulisic was a lightweight presence through the middle once again, Mason Mount was busy but ineffective and there was little invention from Hakim Ziyech, who could not complain when he was replaced by Mateo Kovacic.
The lack of creativity was a weakness again. Pulisic was thwarted by a fine save from José Sá after being played through by Marcos Alonso, Mount saw a shot deflected wide and Kanté miscued a chance at the death, but Chelsea did not create enough. It has become a recurring theme. – Guardian
