Chelsea news as the former Arsenal boss questioned the quality of the Chelsea squad after their 2-0 defeat on Saturday
Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has claimed that Chelsea looked ‘lost’ under Mauricio Pochettino in yesterday’s 2-0 loss to Brentford at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues fell victim to their own undoing as they failed to put the ball in the back of the net despite intense pressure on the Brentford goal for much of the 90 minutes. They came close twice in the first half, Noni Madueke’s curling effort hitting the crossbar early on before Marc Cucurella failed to turn in a Cole Palmer cross from less than six-yards out.
Ethan Pinnock’s go-ahead goal for the Bees was all they wanted, with Thomas Frank’s side then happy to sit back and frustrate Pochettino’s men even further – the low block, 11-men-behind-the-ball tactics working wonders for them. Replacements Ian Maatsen and Deivid Washington were unable to create much impact against a tiring Brentford defence who stayed determined enough to find a second.
In need of a point, Robert Sanchez came up for an injury-time corner but, after a quick clearance, was left to sprint after Neil Maupay and Bryan Mbeumo who broke away with pace, the latter passing the ball into an empty net to secure all three points.
Pochettino was clear after full-time as to what the problems were with his side, with the Blues boss putting it down to simply not finishing their dinner when it mattered. He said: “I think the analysis of the defeat is clear because after the first half we should score and we didn’t score.
“It is easy when you dominate and create chances and you don’t concede chances and the opponent doesn’t cross the halfway line. I think you should score.
“If you don’t score you need to blame yourself and we are going to blame ourselves because we were not nasty or clinical in front of the goal. We created chances but did not score.
“Sometimes you need some luck, you know, to score and after the game changed in the second half but I think we give the belief because we didn’t score and the second half, I think we cannot concede these types of goals. It was our mistake. That is why we lose the game.”
It’s not the first time the Blues have failed to break down a low-block opposition, with scars from a 0-0 draw against Bournemouth and a 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest still fresh from earlier on in the season. Now ex-Gunners boss Wenger is wondering why Chelsea aren’t up to the task, explaining that they can’t continue the way they’ve been playing or else they’ll end up with a disappointing season.
“From outside you question what’s wrong there,” he explained on beIN Sports after the match yesterday. “Is it the players they paid a lot of money for, are they not good enough?
“Are they overrated? Is the confidence in the team so low that they cannot turn up and play some constructive game? Overall, it looks one-paced without ideas.
“They look lost. It’s a team who looks lost. And you have to find solutions very quickly because after 10 games, you see a trend in the league and the trend what they do is just below mid-table.”
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