The Bad
The defending for Chelsea’s goals was undoubtedly poor. It would not serve to be too critical given José Mourinho’s side’s abundance of attacking quality, but loose marking and lapses in concentration made it all too easy for the home side to pick Villa off.
Cissokho and Baker were both caught out by an admittedly superb Branislav Ivanović pass for the opener, and the way Diego Costa was given the freedom of the box to head home the decisive second was frustrating (seven goals in five league games before today, what problems could he possibly cause us?)
Chelsea’s starting line-up cost over ten times as much as Villa’s, and although Villa did overcome this sort of statistic with their recent win at Anfield, sometimes there is just no match for money and the quality it can buy.
Villa will be facing a similar situation this Saturday when they host champions Manchester City. The players and fans will hold out hope of a shock victory, but any points gained would undoubtedly be another bonus.
The Ugly
Villa once again displayed as close to no attacking threat whatsoever as it is possible for a team to show. Chelsea had just one clean sheet in seven games going into Saturday’s match, but I think everyone knew that record would improve against an utterly toothless Villa side.
The only shot on target came courtesy of Alan Hutton, and Villa showed a complete lack of ideas when on the ball in Chelsea’s half. Yes they have been playing the highest quality of English sides in recent weeks, but the problem was there for the first few games of the season against a lower quality of opposition too.
The return of Christian Benteke will add the potential for goals up front, but the midfield will need to step up their game creatively to ensure he receives the support that he needs.
You can’t help but feel there is a serious opportunity to be exploited with Tom Cleverley playing behind Benteke – Cleverley looks as though he can offer the kind of service and quality of ball which Benteke would thrive on. If other members of the midfield can back this up, there could be an upturn in Villa’s shots on target count, and possibly even goal scoring (dare to dream).
UTV
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Lets aspire to a little more than “only lost 3-0” shall we?
Lambert always has a game plan but never has a game changer.
When he put Bent and Gabby upfront and took out Richardson for NZogbia, for example, in order to chase a goal…DId Bent even touch the ball ? Should have been Bent for Gabby and keep four in midfield, even Grealish instead of Nzogbia to try and hold up play.
Serious question marks also over Richardson, and error prone Cissokho too.
Once Chelsea had worked us out (out to the left wing and back to inside left, waiting for Richardson to fall out of position) Lambert had no response. As usual.