Chelsea's heavy loss to Arsenal showed two problems Super Eagles striker could solve
Published: July 24, 2022Pre-season games are getting to the end as clubs wrap up their tours and activities to focus on the new incoming season.
As a rounding up of their United States of America tour, Chelsea and Arsenal faced off in the Florida Cup at the Camping World Stadium.
The Blues were trashed 4-0 with goals from Gabriel Jesus, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Albert Sambi Lokonga.
Apart from the scoreline, one could easily notice that Chelsea were outclassed, outplayed and offered next to zero on the attack.
This is because Arsenal closed off the middle perfectly and Chelsea were forced to channel their attacks through Reece James trying to isolate Nuno Tavares in one Vs ones.
The game showed off two Chelsea problems which would be highlighted below.
Central height
When the short build-ups through the middle failed, Chelsea didn't have the central height to progress the ball in another way. The likes of Timo Werner, Mason Mount, Kai Havertz and Connor Gallagher were weak in the air.
Box play
The little times Chelsea were able to get the ball into Arsenal's box, there was next to zero box play from the attacking players. Box play refers to a player's movement and finishing"within the box". There are four parts to box-play, they include;
* What time does the striker enter the batting cage?
*When he enters the box, what angle is he coming from?
* What is his preferred method of finishing?
Everything about the Chelsea players' box-play was wrong and it was evident from Tuchel's postmatch interview that he was not happy about the attacking department.
However, allnigeriasoccer.com thinks that these problems can be solved by Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen.
The Napoli striker has good height and can help Thomas Tuchel's men progress play when other build-up methods fail.
Over the past two seasons, Osimhen has improved his box-play drastically and is currently one of the most dangerous players in the world when in the box. It is unknown if Chelsea would be willing to splash the cash to get him, but if they do, it may turn out to be a great decision.
Sofoluwe Mayowa
Copyright ANS
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