Tired
Chelsea are feeling the strain from a busy schedule - but there's no let up
coming for Antonio Conte's men, writes Peter Smith...
Tiredness turned to frustration at Stamford Bridge, as Antonio Conte's fears
about how his over-worked Chelsea side would cope with the intense press of
visitors Leicester were realised.
While the home side survived several first-half scares and walked away with
a point, their lack of control and struggle to create openings of their own
will be a concern for the Italian.
This is the first time in the club's history Chelsea have had three 0-0
results in a row, and their fourth consecutive draw across all competitions
hints at a side missing the quality in the final third which they had shown
in abundance earlier this season. After 14 matches in 46 days, the Blues are
feeling the strain.
"For sure, everyone is frustrated after another 0-0," said Conte. "In the
first half and in the first 15 minutes of the second half we suffered a lot.
We played the game against Arsenal on Wednesday night and we didn't have a
lot of time to recover. I saw many, many players very tired."
On Friday Conte had described Leicester as the "worst team" his fatigued
group of players could come up against this weekend, following their midweek
Carabao Cup semi-final first leg, and Foxes boss Claude Puel was left ruing
a missed opportunity to take all three points off the defending champions.
It made for tense viewing for the Chelsea home support. Their team had
thrashed Stoke 5-0 in their final Premier League home game of 2017 but
Chelsea have badly missed that creativity, cutting edge and ruthlessness in
front of goal since the turn of the year.
Alvaro Morata, who missed a hatful of chances at Arsenal in Chelsea's 2018
opener, was ineffective up front again on Saturday, repeatedly bullied out
of possession by the impressive, imperious Leicester centre-back Harry
Maguire.
Conte was quick to defend his main striker after the match, describing the
lack of goals as a "problem not only for Morata but for all of the team" and
the fact Chelsea failed to conjure a single clear-cut chance pointed to
wider issues in their attacking play.
The reliance on chief creators Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas to provide an
opening is clear but when those two are suffering with heavy legs, as they
were here, that becomes a major problem.
Their double substitution with less than an hour on the clock highlighted
the home side's struggles to find a way through this Leicester defence -
even weary, those two had been Chelsea's most likely route towards a goal
against the run of play in a first half dominated by the Foxes.
While Fabregas' rasping drive was well tipped over by Kasper Schmeichel and
Hazard probed for an opening, there was a surprising lack of control from
the hosts' midfield as the Foxes fired off 12 shots at goal in the opening
45 minutes, the most a visiting team has managed before the break at
Stamford Bridge since 2003/04.
Unusually Leicester had 53.6 per cent of possession in the first half, as
Wilfred Ndidi matched N'Golo Kante by winning the ball back on eight
occasions, and Tiemoue Bakayoko struggled to get into the game either
offensively or defensively.
In contrast to Chelsea's lethargy, Leicester were electric, particularly
Jamie Vardy, who harried the Blues' defenders, and in-form Riyad Mahrez,
whose deflected shot almost caught out Thibaut Courtois after the Belgian
had been at full stretch to parry Ndidi's header.
In search of some inspiration and innovation, Conte switched to a 3-4-3
formation when he withdrew Fabregas and Hazard, sending wingers Pedro and
Willian onto the field. But even with Ben Chilwell's sending off on 68
minutes - which Puel described as "very harsh" - Chelsea couldn't find the
spark in the final third which appears to have deserted them.
Chelsea off target
Chelsea had seven shots on target in this match - only twice since 2003/04
have they had more in a Premier League home game in which they failed to
score (9 vs Newcastle in November 2008 and West Ham in January 2014).
Chelsea were camped on the edge of the Leicester box for long periods late
on, trying to prise apart the disciplined 10 men in front of them. In truth,
they didn't come close, with a Marcos Alonso free-kick, comfortably parried
by Schmeichel, the best chance of note.
Morata managed just three touches in the opposition box all game - his worst
return from a completed Premier League game this season - while only four
completed crosses from 19 attempted illustrated the wayward service on
offer.
Bakayoko drew groans from the home support as he twice blasted over and
Morata's late kick out at Maguire, which earned him a yellow card, summed up
the frustrated mood on the pitch and in the stands.
Changing that feeling won't be easy. There's no let-up in the fixture list
coming for Chelsea, with an FA Cup replay against Norwich on Wednesday, trip
to Brighton next Saturday and Carabao Cup semi-final second leg four days
after that.
Somehow Conte must find time to rest and reinvigorate his squad - before
draws turn to defeats.
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