“The only thing holding Chelsea back…” – Blues’ big weakness assessed after great start to season | OneFootball

With the international break in full swing, the Premier League’s website have got stuck in to a full rundown of that season so far, and that included some interesting words on Chelsea by their writer Alex Keble:

“The biggest surprise package of the Premier League season so far is Chelsea,” he wrote.

“That might sound like an overstatement considering the vast amounts of money spent assembling Chelsea’s squad, but most pre-season predictions assumed Enzo Maresca would struggle to create a cohesive team out of a bloated and highly inexperienced squad.”

We would totally agree. We didn’t think things would come together this fast despite the crazy money spent and the quality brought in, and it shouldn’t be underestimated how much these early points picked up will help as the table takes shape in the spring.

“The Chelsea squad appears balanced, self-assured and of course supremely talented, while Maresca already has them playing an attractive style of football that leans more heavily into fast transitions than we expected,” is another fair assessment – we’ve not got the possession football that was expected, just yet.

Enzo Maresca and his staff celebrate the Manager of the Month award at Cobham.

Chelsea’s main weaknesses also become clear

“The naivety of youth is the only thing holding Chelsea back; they have the youngest starting XI in the league, currently averaging 23 years and 191 days.”

Keble even goes on to detail exactly how that callowness is manifesting itself among the players:

“Game management has been a slight issue for a side understandably looking more emotional than their savvier, more grizzled opponents.”

If by emotional he means picking up loads of silly yellow cards, it’s hard to deny. There have also been some leads we’ve failed to hold on to, but no more than you’d expect from even an older team. We’d say that what’s amazing is how quickly you forget you’re watching a notably young team.