Chelsea must work harder as a team says Pat Nevin

The blame for Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat to Arsenal needs to be placed on the whole team rather than the defence alone according to former Blue Pat Nevin.

Alexi Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil capitalised on a dreadful team performance from Antonio Conte’s men at the Emirates last weekend, with Chelsea’s defence coming under intense scrutiny following successive league defeats to Arsenal and Liverpool respectively.

And whilst the blame can be firmly focused on how poorly the Blues have defended in the absence of John Terry, Nevin suggests there has been a lack of support from those further up the pitch as well.

Writing in his column for the club’s official website, he said:

There is no hiding from the fact that losing 3-0 to Arsenal is a hard one to take for the manager, the players and of course the fans as well. The magic wasn’t there at the Emirates and there is no option but to get back on the training ground and work out where the problems are stemming from.

It might be the defence and Gary Cahill knows who was at fault for the first goal against Arsenal, but what about midfielders shielding those defenders? How about the striker tracking back when a full-back runs off them and what about overall work-rate compared to the opposition?

Chelsea failed to match Arsenal in all the departments Nevin suggested, with Eden Hazard particularly guilty of failing to track Hector Bellerin in the build up for Arsenal’s second goal.

And the former Chelsea winger believes it could be a hard week of training for the players in the build-up to Saturday afternoon’s clash with Hull City.

I have a suspicion training will not be the most joyful this week and the lads will not have the distraction of a midweek European tie or international travels to take their minds off those last few league games. This could be a week of constant work on shape, positioning and technical matters.

Personally, I do not think many players will have arguments about what Antonio Conte has to say this week. There have been problems, the players know this and it is his job to sort them out.

Kevin believes this could be “the most difficult season for a while” to finish in the top four, but is keen to add a little perspective and remind Chelsea fans that the one point from nine available in September was nine points from nine in August.