Former Chelsea captain Gary Cahill has pinpointed something that his old side have to fix quickly despite them earning a point against Liverpool.
Chelsea came back from 1-0 down to draw 1-1 with Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday afternoon.
It was their best performance in the Premier League since the beginning of March when they beat Aston Villa 4-1, with Enzo Fernandez grabbing the team’s equaliser. Nevertheless, Cahill thinks there is still much room for improvement.
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Liverpool v Chelsea - Premier League
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Gary Cahill criticises Chelsea for conceding goals too early
It took just six minutes for Liverpool to score against Chelsea after Ryan Gravenberch found the back of Filip Jorgensen’s net with a magnificent strike.
Before that, Chelsea conceded in just the second minute to Nottingham Forest in their 3-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge.
Cahill has now told his former club that they need to cut out that bad habit.
Speaking on Premier League Productions, the ex-central defender said: “Chelsea are not in great form but you look at how many early goals they’ve conceded and you think, be switched on; make your first pass, make your first tackle. It’s a disappointing start for them today and it’s something that needs to change.”
Ryan Gravenberch of Liverpool shoots
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In general, Chelsea have been poor defensively this season. However, they were boosted by the return of Levi Colwill against Liverpool, with the 23-year-old making his first start for the Blues since recovering from his ACL injury.
After the game, former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch claimed that Colwill was “fantastic”. Based on that performance, if nothing happens in training, you would now expect Colwill to start in the FA Cup final against Manchester City.
While Colwill is a top defender and proved that in the draw with Liverpool, next season, Chelsea are going to need more than that.
Their next manager, whoever that is, will require a dominant and experienced centre-half to play alongside Colwill. Without that and a couple more additions, the Club World Cup holders could be in for another disappointing campaign.
Hiring the right manager is the most important thing that the club’s owners have to do, though. The likes of Xabi Alonso, Andoni Iraola and Cesc Fabregas have all been linked with the job.
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