It’s going to feel like a long week until Chelsea play next as they reflect on Friday night’s crushing defeat against Brighton.
Chelsea suffered a 3-0 away loss versus Brighton in the Premier League, which is a real dent in their hunt for Champions League qualification. As a result, they could finish the weekend dropping from fourth to sixth in the division table.
Chelsea had zero shots on target against Brighton during a frustrating evening for the travelling supporters at the Amex Stadium.
The Blues must wait until Saturday 22 February for their next game when they travel to Aston Villa in the league.
Former Chelsea striker not impressed by Enzo Maresca’s decision to start ‘non-existent’ player
Tony Cascarino, the former Chelsea striker and now talkSPORT pundit, wasn’t impressed after the Blues’ latest defeat.
In particular, he can’t quite believe that Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca opted to start Christopher Nkunku again as the central striker.
“Nkunku, I’m sorry, you’re carrying him as a centre-forward,” Cascarino told talkSPORT.
“I had no idea why Maresca selected him after the performance he put in in the cup game against Brighton. He was non-existent. And what did we see last night? Exactly the same performance. I will give him one benefit of the doubt: he is not a centre-forward.”
Due to the absence of both Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu because of injuries, Nkunku has stepped in to lead the line for the last two matches.
The Frenchman was really poor last weekend when Chelsea were knocked out of the FA Cup by Brighton. Unfortunately, he was very ineffective again against the same opposition in Friday’s league meeting.
Gary Neville said Nkunku and Cole Palmer were “useless” together in Chelsea’s league defeat at Brighton because the duo didn’t step up when the team needed them.
Can Chelsea persist with Christopher Nkunku up top?
It’s hard to picture Nkunku being a success for the Blues in a No 9 position. Even though he’s clinical in and around the penalty box, he simply doesn’t possess the presence to lead the line in the Premier League.
When examining Chelsea’s alternatives to play at striker, it really is slim pickings right now.
Could Cole Palmer do a job if you asked him to spearhead the attack? Alternatively, would it be too soon to promote young striker Shumaira Mheuka from the club’s academy?
We’d expect to see Nkunku get another opportunity to try contribute in the centre-forward role, but Maresca may need to get creative to solve this issue.
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