Stamford Bridge can feel pretty eerie when Chelsea are playing the ball sideways over and over again, for nearly 90 minutes. It didn’t help that the Blues were soundly beaten 2-0 by Tottenham.
João Pedro was feeling some knee trouble in training on Friday, and Xabi Alonso confirmed before kick-off that the injury had fluid around it. Rather than start Danny Welbeck, Alonso brought in Geovany Quenda, a 19-year-old winger, and played Morgan Rogers up front. This meant that Chelsea played a home derby without a proper striker.
They were dominated by Spurs, with only 32% of the ball. The Blues could only muster seven shots, the fewest they have had this season. They were also rated as having only 0.47 expected goals. Welbeck, who was signed from Brighton in the summer, only came on in the 88th minute because, for whatever reason, Alonso couldn’t trust him to start the game.
This isn’t an isolated issue for Alonso’s side though. João Pedro was also missing from the 3-0 loss to Brentford and Welbeck started. Again, they looked very blunt. The Brazilian has scored five league goals and provided three assists in just six games. He is the key to this attack.
The issue is that no one is behind him. Emmanuel Emegha has yet to make his competitive debut due to fitness issues after he was signed from Strasbourg. Nicolas Jackson, Liam Delap and Marc Guiu have all been sold. Selling three strikers and bringing in only an injured Emegha and a 35-year-old is quite a bold move.
This needs to be sorted in January. Chelsea can’t afford to waste any time here. They don’t need to spend big money to sign another superstar. They need a fit, physical No. 9 who knows the Premier League. Bringing someone in on loan would make this much easier to afford.
Most reports have said that Chelsea are looking to strengthen in midfield with players like Alex Scott from Bournemouth. It makes sense after losing Enzo Fernández to Manchester City, but they should be looking at the front too. If not, the next time João Pedro gets injured, we will have to pray that Cole Palmer suddenly learns how to become a striker.