Chelsea failed to keep a clean sheet for the 16th time in Liam Rosenior’s 22nd game as manager on Saturday night and Gary Lineker has underlined how much Chelsea miss Levi Colwill.
Matheus Cunha scored the only goal of the game on Saturday night as Man United managed to beat Chelsea, despite suffering a centre-back injury crisis and travelling to Stamford Bridge for the big game.
It’s now six defeats in seven for Rosenior and Chelsea, and four consecutive losses in the Premier League. The first time Chelsea have lost four league games without scoring, since a dismal run back in 1912.
Are YOU starting to lose patience with Rosenior?
The sympathy is gone…
Much has been made of the club’s dismal transfer activity and the lack of experience in the squad. Even Behdad Eghbali has attempted to appease fans by saying publicly that Chelsea will sign older players.
Gary Lineker names the player Chelsea misses the most
But according to Gary Lineker, Chelsea miss a player who remains on the books. Levi Colwill is still yet to make his first appearance of 2025-26 after picking up an ACL injury just before the start of the season.
The 23-year-old defender got some minutes with the U21’s recently, and Rosenior confirmed the former Huddersfield man would be playing for the second string again this weekend, as he steps up his recovery.
Levi Colwill playing for Chelsea against Liverpool in the Premier League.
Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images
Speaking on The Rest Is Football, Lineker described Colwill as an “exceptional” talent and pointed to the unsettled nature of Chelsea’s centre-back pairing. He believes the Blues have missed Colwill this season.
“Colwill has been a big miss. He was looking like an exceptionally talented player in that central defence, which they’ve chopped and changed a lot and not really found a permanent partnership after his injury.”
Is Colwill enough? Or do Chelsea need a complete revamp
Colwill is Chelsea’s best centre-back. But it is completely unclear if the England defender will be anything like his former self after such a disastrous injury. As things stand, Chelsea have 10 senior centre-backs.
Reece James and Levi Colwill watched on as Chelsea lost a fourth consecutive Premier League game against Manchester United! Where would the Blues be if they stayed fit? 🤔
Top five?
Reece James and Levi Colwill
Credit: Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside/Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
Colwill and Trevoh Chalobah are injured, Aaron Anselmino and Axel Disasi are out on loan. Mamadou Sarr, Benoit Badiashile, Tosin Adarabioyo, Jorrel Hato, Josh Acheampong and Wesley Fofana are options.
Chelsea need to completely revamp their centre-back options. They need to ease Colwill back into the team, and they need to sign one or two experienced leaders that can finally plug the defensive gap.
There is a huge amount to do in the transfer market this summer, and that highlights just how bad the spending has been at Chelsea over the years. This is a team with real potential, lacking crucial cogs.
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