Chelsea are buying players all over the world, but they're still short of a central defender.

The 1-2 defeat against Man United on the morning of September 21st in Round 5 of the English Premier League wasn't too bad for Chelsea. But the way they kept dropping points from one round to the next exposed a huge weakness: the central defender position.

Chalobah is skilled, but has never reached world- class level. - Photo: REUTERS

In a moment of carelessness from the central defensive duo Fofana and Chalobah, goalkeeper Roberto Sanchez was forced to rush out and foul Mbeumo, receiving a red card and leaving Chelsea playing with ten men from the 5th minute.

Why did Maresca bring in another center-back?

Immediately after the red card, coach Enzo Maresca substituted two attacking stars, Estevao and Neto, bringing in a goalkeeper and a central defender. Replacing the goalkeeper was obvious, but bringing in a central defender clearly showed that the Italian coach didn't trust the Fofana-Chalobah pairing. Then, when the team conceded the first goal, he replaced Palmer with a defensive midfielder, Andrey Santos.

For almost the entire match, Chelsea played with 9 out of 10 players who were defensively oriented – including 1 goalkeeper, 3 central defenders, 2 full-backs, 3 central midfielders, and only Joao Pedro up front.

For comparison, fans will be reminded of the Newcastle vs. Liverpool clash in Round 2. Newcastle played with 10 men from the end of the first half after Gordon received a red card, and they were also trailing by one goal at that point. Manager Eddie Howe chose not to make any substitutions, and then in the middle of the second half, he only made changes to the personnel corresponding to each position (defender for defender, midfielder for midfielder...). Only 7 out of 10 Newcastle players in the second half were dedicated to defense - including 1 goalkeeper, 4 defenders and 2 central midfielders.

The methods were different, but the results were similar. Newcastle shocked Liverpool by equalizing 2-2 while playing with 10 men against 11, and ultimately only lost 2-3 in the final minutes. As for Chelsea, after falling behind 0-2, they narrowed the deficit and pressed hard in the final 10 minutes. With a bit more luck, Chelsea could have equalized as well.

Some Chelsea fans will be angry, calling manager Maresca "cowardly," especially when comparing them to Newcastle – a team that faced a powerful Liverpool side – rather than a struggling Manchester United. But most will understand. Italians are known for their pragmatism, and Maresca understands the team's problems better than anyone.

Newcastle have a reliable central defensive pairing (Schar, Burn) that can be trusted in a 10 vs 11 situation. Liverpool – who also frequently play with fewer players – have the solid Van Dijk. Arsenal have nothing to worry about with the Saliba-Magalhaes duo. Man City, while not particularly strong defensively, can still rely on Ruben Dias in such situations – a player capable of leading the defense against any difficulties. Only Chelsea lacks such a reliable option.

Palmer was replaced by a defensive midfielder - Andrey Santos - Photo: REUTERS

Transfer issues?

On a good day, Chelsea will defend exceptionally well with manager Maresca's well-structured tactical system and the excellent ball control of the central midfield duo Caicedo and Enzo. The FIFA Club World Cup final is a prime example.

But in most matches, Chelsea had certain weaknesses in their defense. These weren't the occasional mistakes of top-class center-backs, but rather inherent flaws of center-backs who weren't good enough. These included Colwill, Chalobah, Tosin, Badiashile, Fofana, Acheampong... Unless you're a regular football fan, you might not even recognize any of these names.

Over three years since billionaire Todd Boehly bought Chelsea, he has poured €1.7 billion into the transfer market alone to buy players. More than 50 players have moved to Stamford Bridge during that time, but strangely, none of them have been world-class central defenders.

Chelsea bought many superstars for every position, but refused to buy a world-class center-back, a player capable of leading the defense like Van Dijk, Saliba, or Dias.

And that's why Chelsea haven't been able to get back into the Premier League title race for the past three years, even though they are world champions.

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HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/chelsea-mua-ca-the-gioi-nhung-lai-thieu-trung-ve-20250921224408483.htm