Michael Owen criticises ‘naive play’ from Chelsea defender during 3-1 defeat at Manchester City, he played into their hands

Add as preferred source on Google

Michael Owen wasn’t impressed by one moment he saw from a Chelsea player in today’s defeat at Manchester City.

Chelsea are down to sixth in the Premier League table after losing 3-1 away to rivals Man City on Saturday evening.

The Blues went ahead extremely early through Noni Madueke’s goal, but they couldn’t double their advantage when they were on top. Instead, Man City won the game because of goals from Josko Gvardiol, Erling Haaland and Phil Foden.

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca showed his inexperience as he was outdone by old mentor Pep Guardiola in the opposite dugout. It’s now just one win from the last seven league games for the Blues as they continue to slide down the division table.

• READ MORE: Paul Merson makes Chelsea transfer plea straight after their 3-1 defeat to Manchester City

Michael Owen critical of ‘naive’ defending from Trevoh Chalobah

Michael Owen wasn’t impressed by the defending he saw from Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah for the goal that put Man City 2-1 ahead.

The 25-year-old Blues centre-back was one-on-one with Haaland inside his own half, which ended up with the Man City striker winning the physical battle before scoring a superb chip over goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.

When discussing Chalobah’s defending versus Haaland for his goal, Owen said via the Premier League’s official website (8:07pm, 25 January): “I think it’s naive play. If I’m Liverpool and I’ve got Virgil van Dijk or Arsenal with Saliba, I can go one-on-one, but I’m not sure anyone else can afford to, and let the ‘keeper chip it up to him and say, you two go for it.

“I think it’s naive play. You can’t do that against Haaland. You can keep him quiet, but that’s just giving him what he wants. He dreams of situations like that, why would you do it. You have to put him on his weaknesses.”

For what it’s worth, Chelsea did appear to be marking one-on-one in their defensive shape, so as much blame may need to fall on Maresca’s shoulders as much as Chalobah.

Chalobah was highly ranked in Chelsea’s player ratings versus Man City, but the defender is likely to be replaying the Haaland goal in his mind. He allowed the Man City frontman to spin and get in behind him before the clever finish.

Chelsea defence needs to fix up

It’s now six consecutive league games without a clean sheet for Chelsea’s backline, so it’s no surprise that results are poor during that run. Yet again, the Blues were too easy to get at away at Man City.

Chelsea fans raged at Levi Colwill’s performance against Man City. If the ever-present central defender is receiving widespread criticism, it’s a sign that there’s cracks in the back four.

On top of that, Blues goalkeeper Robert Sanchez is going through a horrid time as he keeps making significant errors.

It’ll be interesting to see if the likes of Filip Jorgensen or Tosin Adarabioyo earn a recall at the back the next time the Blues play on 3 February at home to West Ham.