PSG beat Chelsea 5-2 at the Parc des Princes in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16, and the media isn’t interested in analysis.
Pundits have been banging the drum about “Chelsea cannot win with this young, inexperienced squad” for years, and tonight was another example of this misunderstood narrative.
This is yet another example of the lazy analysis epidemic in English football, writes Rant Sport’s Loki de Pontes.
“Too young to win”
Ex-Premier League players Troy Deeney and Nigel Reo-Coker were big proponents of this idea, with the latter saying that the team will “never get any fruitfulness with this blueprint”.
Deeney pointed out the sequence of the Dembele goal in particular, calling the Blues’ high line “naive” on the CBS Sports broadcast.
There are so many problems with this argument.
One need only look at the opponent to see the flaws in this line of thinking.
Paris Saint-Germain won Europe’s premier competition last year with one of the youngest squads on the continent.
In fact, according to Transfermarkt, PSG’s Treble-winning side has an average age almost identical to Chelsea’s this season.
The real problem
The so-called “naive” high line is also a hilariously misinformed notion.
Does Deeney truly think that Chelsea’s players just decided to stand by the halfway line based on vibes?
Even before Chelsea hired Liam Rosenior, the English coach’s teams were known for playing it out from the back and pushing high up the pitch.
Chelsea were a moment away from scoring and moved players upfield in support.
Then the ball got turned over, and a series of missed tackles led to a quick PSG counter-attack.
They bit the bullet for the way they play.
Chelsea’s problems were not down to “inexperience”. They were a result of poor managerial decisions, tactical issues, and player error.
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Pretty good for three goals down
This is not even me trying to wholly blame the Chelsea manager. I think he’s done a decent (if unspectacular) job so far.
In some games, his tactical decisions work. In others, his lineup decisions are questionable, and his style of play leaves the team overexposed.
These are not things that can be solved overnight.
For once, I think Jamie Carragher had quite a balanced take on the Blues.
“It’s probably one of the best performances I’ve seen from a team who have lost 5-2,” said the Liverpool legend on UCL Today.
He went on to say that the team was “well in this game” and didn’t deserve the disheartening scoreline given their performance, before speaking on the tactical decisions that lost them the game.
Based on his previous comments on Chelsea’s current squad, I’d expect him to also parrot the “failed youth” storyline.
It was quite refreshing to see him actually acknowledge that the team played well and were unlucky to walk away as convincing losers.
After all, isn’t discussing how one team won and the other lost what punditry is supposed to be?
I suppose just saying the same thing over and over again without doing any actual analysis is just easier.
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