Why Do Forwards Keep Failing At Chelsea?

Recent Chelsea signings Raheem Sterling and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have struggled to hit the ground running at Stamford Bridge so far this season, but they are not alone in being formerly prolific forwards who have found it difficult to score goals in West London.
Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner, who cost a combined total of almost £150 million, experienced similar issues, as did the likes of Fernando Torres and Andriy Shevchenko before them.
So in this video, HITC Sevens takes a look at why it is the case that strikers seemingly keep failing at Chelsea, whether it's the club or those player's faults, and what Graham Potter can do to fix it.

[@mateit1479]

VIDEO SUGGESTION: I`ve always wanted to know how the hell was Arsene Wenger appointed as Arsenal manager back in 1996. This appointment looks absolutely random at the first look. A less than mediocre French footballer, had a somehow promising start of managerial career at Monaco, after a disappointing debut at Nancy. Somehow, he go all the way in Japan, with 1-2 trophies and then he is appointed in England, as Arsenal boss?? How?? Who saw him working, who recommended him for Arsenal position? Why Arsenal board decided to appoint him. It is unbelievable! Sure, after years, the bet was a huge success, but I am sure the fans were shocked at his appointment. I think this could be an interesting video. Looking forward for it.

[@seandelap8587]

Great suggestion

[@melodiclogic9904]

the press and fans at the time were a little skeptical, as foreign managers hadn't really proved themselves in the English game yet, but honestly it was the best decision by arsenal since we moved to North London. we thrived under Wenger, and I was sad to see him leave (even though I knew he was past his best)

[@jaitheon1793]

Would love to see this. Get on it Alfie. Surely a better use of all of our time than that Indonesian XI that's been suggested for a load of videos.

[@tamertayyareci1333]

David Dein (former chairman of arsenal) actually had eyes on him for years. He wanted to appoint Wenger in the early 90s but the board were against it, but he still kept in contact with Wenger and even sent him Arsenal games so Wenger understood how Arsenal played. Then around the time of Wengers appointment the two met up went for dinner (even played charades loool) and David Dein was 100% convinced and pushed it hard on the Arsenal board. Because of his track record with Monaco I believe, it was a more convincing sell the second time around!

[@fresheeee]

YES PLEASE ALFIE

[@michaelcort1763]

I think the disparity between recruitment and tactical approach has been a major factor. Chelsea lack identity as a team and its not hard to see why. The recruitment has been done almost exclusively on a 'which high profile player can we get' approach. Sure, you end up with a talented squad but what use is a bullying aggressive target man striker like Lukaku if your manager favours playing an intricate build up style of play.

[@andrasszabo1570]

Also the reason why they don't have an identity is that they also change managers almost every season and get the new one the same way, "which high profile manager can we get", without considering their favoured formation, style of play, philosophy, etc. So there's no continuity between managers either. Over the last 6 years, they had Conte, Sarri, Lampard, Tuchel and Potter... The problem with Lukaku is that he looks like a "bullying aggressive target man striker" and Chelsea has played him as such, but he really isn't that. He is not very good at being physical with defenders, holding up the ball and bringing teammates into play, attributes which would've been very useful if Chelsea wanted an intricate build up style of play. What he is good at is attacking space behind the defense, running at the defense at speed and finishing with his feet. He is a poacher in a target man's body. He played as such at West Brom, Everton and Inter and had great success. It's no use buying him on that basis, expecting him to succeed at something else and discarding him after a solitary season.

[@limpa756]

Chelsea’s identity used to be completely clinical, no nonsense. Now it’s just a soulless money pit

[@yourdadhasadogfilter2505]

Lukaku isn't really a target man. He's just built like one

[@seadkolasinac7220]

Yeah Lukaku isn’t a target man. He’s basically just a less good version of Haaland who is good at running in behind and also has good predatory instincts in the box. When Lukaku tries to do more of the holdup play he often gets bullied by centre backs. A very young Dino Mavropanos had him in his pocket at Old Trafford

[@yourdadhasadogfilter2505]

@@seadkolasinac7220 Watching him and Werner vs Man City last season made my eyes bleed

[@fiftysteps]

The problem at Chelsea is that no managers have tried to play our defenders as strikers 😂. I'm still convinced Marcos Alonso would have been a revelation as a striker that we haven't seen since Michu.

[@SteCollects]

When Chilwell and RJ are fit he plays them as wingbacks and I believe its our best formation but even that has shown issues

[@hyywe240]

What on earth are you talking about?

[@Vi_XXiV]

I actually agree

[@reun1clus]

Lmao and most of the time our goalscorers are also our defenders from set pieces… having high hopes for Nkunku

[@srinivassuresh466]

As a Chelsea fan believe me this is the truth. Alonso's ability to finish and his calmness in front of goal was so much better than most of our strikers. 😂😂 He could easily have scored 15-20 goals a season if played up front

[@abhinavssj4]

Couldn't agree more about the creativity issue at Chelsea. We haven't had a decent creator since Fabregas. However, finishing has also been a problem. With literally all of our forwards missing absolute sitters to a comical degree. Werner was very proficient at that. But, the creativity problem is the one issue no one ever decided to solve in the team. Even us Chelsea fans are tired of talking about it.

[@rothbardfreedom]

Havertz could be a good creator/number 10, but we have pushed him more foward.

[@joshuathomas2012]

The primary problem is the formation, it lacks a creative midfielder. With the back 3, the most creative players would be the wingbacks and unsurprisingly Chelsea have been really good when both their primary wingbacks have been fit (Reece James and Ben Chillwell).

[@abhinavssj4]

@@joshuathomas2012 The whole formation debate is pointless now. Even in a back 4 we're not doing any better. We simply do not have a creative player.

[@abhinavssj4]

@@rothbardfreedom Regardless of position, he has been crap this season. If there is any creativity, it's not showing.

[@ricky1204]

@@rothbardfreedom Havertz is nor a creator or finisher, watch any game he plays for chelsea hes a floater

[@richardbeck818]

I think Chelsea's main issue is the constant change in managers and philosophy. No doubt they have world class players but do they have the balance. You only have to look at the two best teams over the past how ever many years and it isn't surprising they are two of the longest serving managers and Arsenal are now showing that sticking with a manager and a philosophy eventually pays dividends. What I'm saying is give potter time and a few transfer windows and I have no doubt sterling will score goals, but in reality will he get time?

[@matthewcoombs3282]

Agree with your comment 100%. I think when Chelsea had a settled back room and technical staff, the manager merry go around didnt harm them. Now the manager churn does without that settled playing playbook, that they can then match their transfer purchases of playing staff. They need some stability in managers and technical staff.

[@zainadam2364]

They will, The Boehly man didn’t give the guy a 5 year contract for nothing, besides the new ownership have a history of keeping a manager that they specifically picked for the team, but seriously only time will tell.

[@gothicgolem2947]

I mean it’s a new owner he sacked Tuchel cause of behind the scenes stuff so if potter communicates well hopefully he will get time

[@afanasymarinov2236]

absolutely, they should have given Tuchel more time...

[@gothicgolem2947]

@@afanasymarinov2236 he woudnt explain to the mangement why he didn’t want Ronaldo… and also apparently didn’t handle things well with. Few players

[@discernment101]

Tammy Abraham was their top scorer 19/20 and they let him go

[@FlamingWalrus317]

The bit about Lampard at the beginning is actually crazy and hilarious when you list it all out like that.

[@EthanSchaner]

As an American who is just learning about world football I love you and all of your videos. Hard hitting facts, social commentary, and a mix of sarcastic fun. Keep it up :)

[@dvdv8197]

Hope you're happy with the mid-term elections!

[@adampark4238]

@@dvdv8197 no matter what side he votes only result was Americans are becoming more polarised by political views red states became more red and blue states became more blue. The middle ground is becoming narrower each time a election comes up

[@dvdv8197]

@@adampark4238 wow. No. Not at all. That is clearly not what happened this time around.

[@adampark4238]

@@dvdv8197 so how do you explain the fact red got more red blue got more blue

[@archstanton6102]

@@dvdv8197 the only state change was Pennsylvania?

[@anophelesnow3957]

I cannot understand my team. What sort of silly team finds it easier to win a CL than get a 20+ goal striker? Thanks, Alfie

[@JaySmurkzTV]

LOL it's what makes Chelsea joy to follow, you never quite know with our team. We can go from great to terrible then back to great. We defy all convention. That 2012 CL win is still befuddling till this day.

[@collo5070]

tammy abraham was chelsea's solution...I could see his determination to prove himself everytime he stepped onto the pitch...but we sold him to roma and look at him now...your narration of topics is on point though...good stuff

[@justnone9809]

agree

[@seandelap8587]

You could apply this to most players that have signed for Man Utd during the past decade

[@ojasvipuri884]

Di Maria, Depay, Martial, Blind, Pogba....omg

[@alankenny21]

Difference is United been shite. Chelsea actually won things which makes it worse. Even Ronaldo scored over 20 goals last season.

[@zed704]

@@ojasvipuri884 martial blind werent flops????

[@ethanp9893]

@@ojasvipuri884 Blind? Blind started for us for multiple seasons before he went back to Ajax, we got all we could out of him.

[@benedictjajo]

Nope. Not applicable. Totally different situations.

[@man4437]

Delectable medley of striker analysis splendour

[@seandelap8587]

Nowadays they may do but Zola and Drogba were both outstanding at Chelsea and both will go down as club legends

[@Hilversumborn]

Hasselbaink deserves an honorable mention

[@12Tevines]

Costa 2

[@bandai_2477]

@@Hilversumborn anelka wasnt. bad either

[@benedictjajo]

For every Zola and Drogba, there is also a Schevchenko and Torres.

[@beatlesboy95]

Irrelevant

[@Keron51]

Firstly, I think the reason that chelsea are failing so much lies with our midfield and midfield only, specifically jorginho. Your forwards can only do as good as the quality of chances that are created for them. As much as jorginho can "control the tempo of the game" he is no Xavi, Iniesta, Pirlo or even thiago who can control the tempo of the game while being a creative outlet for the team. Jorginho is not even press resistant or even mark resistant as top teams have repeatedly found ways to isolate him or mark him completely out of the game. Jorginho consistently refuses to shoot while 90% of the time being in or around the top of the 18 yard box when chelsea attack. His long passing is abysmal at times so I'm constantly confused as to why he is the first name on the teamsheet when fit. Secondly, The recruitment in terms of players have been all over the place its not driven by any sort of data or strategy and I hope Boehly addresses this. We just sign players that look good without going into the factors that drive their performances. Havertz and Werner are prime examples of this. These are players that play off the back of the defender so they need constant chances being created from central midfield. Something that doesn't exist at chelsea ever since Conte.... we have recuited so many forwards but Kova, Jorginho and Kante have been with the club since 2019

[@apan990]

midfield isnt the main issue on the field, let alone only, our forwards are. we constantly miss chances and all our forwards lack chemistry and fluidity with their teammates. how many balls has an injured kovacic been feeding our forwards, only for them to mess it up constantly. i do agree however that we need better midfielders, its hanging on by a string relying on an inexperienced zakaria, a dodgy jorginho, and a half injured kovacic to play. week in week out. but to put most of the blame, or even all of it on our midfield and completely disregarding the mess that is our forward line is foolish. our issue off the field, and as you said recruitment, i 100% agree with. we look at some youtube highlights of a player and splash north of 50mill only for them to be useless, whatever potter's philosophy and style of play is needs to be implemented, and then build around that and buying the players that suit that style. but so far we're playing the exact same as tuchel but worse, which begs the question does potter really know what hes doing. i mean look at arsenal, for the past how many years have been shit under arteta, but they stuck to his play style, bought the players he wants around it and now look at where they are.

[@aaaaaaa4750]

@@apan990 bro, we overscored our xG last season, also it was pretty low compared to top teams anyway. Go to fbref and compare xG of chelsea forwards with Liverpool's or City's

[@apan990]

@@aaaaaaa4750 tf is xG supposed to even mean, i go off by what i see on screen, not meaningless stats. also you mention last year which is a totally different situation we are in now. where we had a world class manager, players who cared about the game and werent plagued with injuries like we are now. we can over score our xG all we want, if its not resulting in good football, or at the very least goals or wins, it means nothing.

[@aaaaaaa4750]

@@apan990 we don't play good football because of terrible midfield that doesnt exist without kova/kante, and even with kova we lack creativity, there is nothing to argue, it's obvious and was said in the video

[@aaaaaaa4750]

@@apan990 last season with tuchel, without james/chilly we terribly lacked creativity

[@mattpotter8725]

I think the problem with Chelsea's goalscoring issues is mainly due to recruitment. Anyone who has watched the Bundesliga the season before Havertz and Werner arrived could have told you that neither was an out and our centre forward so if you wanted them to play in this role you'd need a lot of creativity in midfield to make this work. Werner, just like Sterling, often plays wide on the left, and often had other strikers on the pitch at Leipzig, just as Sterling did at Man City. Havertz, although doing amazingly in Germany I think needed more time to develop and signing him was just akneejerk reaction. Many of the strikers Chelsea signed that failed, like Torres, Shevchenko, and Higuiain were obtained when they either were known to have injury problems or were getting hear the end of their careers, which seems to be the case a lot with Chelsea. After this they seem to have changed to signing younger players that weren't totally proven and weren't, it doesn't seem, signed knowing they could fit into the current squad, the same could be said of Sterling, and now that didn't work they reverted back to signing past it players based on what they did 5 seasons ago in Abameyang. The problem is the mismanagement has been going on so long it will take years to fix the squad and managers won't get that long to put a solid base in place. I think keeping Abrahams would have been better than doing what they've done since. Chelsea do seem to have a lot of goalscoring midfielders, Mount, Ziyech, Pulisic, Sterling (who is an amazing midfielder, not a striker) but most of these are individuals who are talented and can score goals, but aren't known for passing the ball, they either drive forward, beat a player, and then can pass the ball, so if you stop this you stop Chelsea. The other way Chelsea and goals is from their full backs, James, Chillwell, Azpilacueta, and Alonso, who are more attacking assetts than defensive, but with many of these being injured this supply of chances had dried up.

[@MegaDAli95]

Here’s my humble opinion as a Chelsea fan. The problem is Chelsea! Our obsession with winning and inability to be patient and commit towards a style of play that benefits attacking players is why strikers and creative attackers never truly thrive. The dilemma in abandoning the defensive/pragmatic ethos is that it would mean that we have to let of what we believe is a winning formula in the short run; which has never been the Chelsea way in the Abramovich era. Even If we had both Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe, they’d still struggle to get to 20 goals

[@dipanjandey5946]

Bang on! The impatient style brought us trophies because we were a counter attacking team those days.

[@SwifferTWetJetMop]

Chelsea rely heavily on James and Chilwell for creation, but those two are perpetually injured these days and Chelsea haven’t really adapted their game offensively to make use of their other creative players. They have a ton of defensive minded players that keep possession and dictate game flow but not many that create chances for their forwards to score.

[@laughingoutloud502]

And when the strikers are making those runs they prefer to hold possession and waste the runs . Werner makes so many dangerous runs like halaand but there wasn’t a kdb or Bernardo etc behind him.

[@explorewithoddrid7401]

Vid suggestion dude: Andy Cole, the most underrated striker in Prem history, he was prolific for Newcastle and Man U and was one of Ferguson most deadly marksman but he is never mentioned, never remembered and always overlooked, but why?

[@afanasymarinov2236]

and failed in the national squad.

[@superunknown8775]

I used to go to St James' when Andy Cole was banging them in for us, he was awesome. Great times. Although it's pretty special what's going on at Tyneside right now 😀

[@D1Snr]

@@afanasymarinov2236 Who are the players who were a success for England during the same period?

[@D1Snr]

Its a good question. There was definitely some type of agenda. Gary Neville said Andy Cole was similar to Paul Scholes in personality. Very quiet in nature. He never played the media game acting the clown like Frank Bruno or Micah Richards. People like Andy Cole make a certain segment of society nervous. He attracted all the clichés of Chip on his shoulder and the usual nonsense. He was my favourite player growing up. I remember as much child phoning my uncle in shock and informing him that he had joined Man Utd for 7 million. It was a huge move back then. He is definitely underrated. He also got a load of assists. Check his stats.

[@explorewithoddrid7401]

@@D1Snr totally dude, plus he never took penalties so those numbers are huge considering spot kicks aren’t included

[@matthewcoombs3282]

De Bruyne and Salah are both ex Chelsea players. Worth remembering that. I am very heartened that some great young talent form the academy esp during the Lampard period. But Chelsea's transfer policy for the last 5 or 6 years has been terrible. Good player released and gash purchased.

[@bandai_2477]

even salah would struggle in this side, chelsea desperately need someone like de bruyne.

[@gothicgolem2947]

I woudn’t say it’s been terrible since we won the cl….

[@reintaler6355]

Released? Who?

[@evoke97]

@@gothicgolem2947 knockout competition, one off games with no consistency needed. any team can fluke their way to win it

[@metalswifty23]

@@reintaler6355 If we extend the timeframe a little bit, Declan Rice is a prime example of someone who was let go and has gone on to be brilliant elsewhere. Another great and more recent example, though, is Jamal Musiala. Someone deserved a firing after letting him leave. Another player who Chelsea let slip through their grasp, whilst not being contracted at Chelsea at any time, was Mbappe. Came for a trial, would have shown great potential, but because he didn't show any signs of defensive capabilities, he wasn't offered a contract. Ludicrous.

[@lingv_26599]

Even though Chelsea have a Striker problem they've managed to play in 10 finals since 2018.... and have won 5...

[@reintaler6355]

If you take away the FA Cup Finals the record looks even better

[@ryanveyr9195]

@@reintaler6355 and we got robbed in 3/4 FA cup finals

[@lingv_26599]

@@reintaler6355 FA cup has been painful... but such is life

[@lingv_26599]

@@ryanveyr9195 Kovacic Red Card, Handball before Youri's screamer.... lol football is just something else

[@ryanveyr9195]

@@lingv_26599 sanchez handball, moses send off 😛

[@Dafri2]

You just summarized everything that is going on in my mind about Chelsea's attack for the past few years in 1 beautiful video. Thank you for this. So many fans blindly blame the strikers for lack of goals when it is just the team as a whole lacking creativity. Hopefully we can figure this out as you said with giving creative players such as Ziyech a chance.

[@TylerAven10]

This video sounds like the kind of thing that would set Rory Jennings back years with his Alvaro Morata PTSD

[@magivkmeister6166]

I think it's less they outright "fail" more so that Chelsea has always favoured midfield much like what Pep had been doing for the past few years at City, before Haaland arrived.

[@tanalucas2880]

We haven’t signed a midfielder since 2018??? And our midfielder don’t contribute to that many goals it’s defenders that are involved a large percentage of our goals as well as most players in our squad scoring and having the top 2 largest number of different scorers in the last 2 years

[@SatanicBeard]

For me, the biggest issue is a difference between recruitment policy and the tactical preferences of whichever manager is in place. When it comes to recruitment, there is a big emphasis or has been a big emphasis on the profile/reputation of a player, even if they aren’t necessarily right for how the side plays at that time. As you say, their midfield whilst talented, is more about function than flair. Now with Potter they have a manager who has struggled to coach a side to consistently score for a number of years now. The entire thing just doesn’t feel very married up.

[@apan990]

very true, the issues we have tends to be less about one certain issue, but rather a cycle of them. our number one issue is the constant manager sacking, i dont rate potter higher than tuchel, but if he can recreate in chelsea what he did at brighton, then we need to stick with him, then comes lack of identity/style of play, once we fix that, THEN we can buy players that suit that style, instead of buying so many different players with different play styles, under so many different managers. we finally started to see a glimpse into what couldve been under tuchel, buying players to suit his style of play, then he gets the sack. it worked well under Romans time as owner, won us many trophies, but if we want to stay a top club, and a CONSISTENT one, then we need stability or else we're going to fall massively behind as we can already see currently happen.

[@AvijitBiswasBlue]

I agree so much with the content of this video. Surprised to see how Chelsea folks are still not able to figure it out. I would also love to see Ziyech play. The last someone was actually creative at Chelsea was Hazard & look what he did for Chelsea. Ziyech needs a little support & he can be a superstar.

[@upper9052]

You gonna disrespect Anelka like that? Dude was a stud for Chelsea and should be ranked with DD and Costa. The 09/10 season was ridiculous and one of the best Chelsea squads.

[@UraFlight]

Why are they failing ? Because of Chelsea style play. Their play never been changed for years. The team don’t work for strikers as Man City for example for Haaland

[@crystalracing4794]

Chelsea bought Lukaku thinking he was Drogba/Giroud Jr, but he's not a target man despite his build. Jorginho & Kovacic are great at keep possession, but they have no killer final pass. Mount & Gallagher are typical English box-to-box midfielders who are great at being at the receiving end of chances, but no idea of how to create. Their midfield is the problem. Even when they had Drogba & Anelka, they relied on their forwards to do a lot of leg work in addition to scoring goals. Likewise with Costa & Hazard, who created their own goals and chances for others. Chelsea keep buying midfielders who are either physical box-to-box men like Lampard, Essien & Ballack or deep-lying players like Mikel, Kante & Makelele, who rarely do cause damage in the final third.

[@TheSubstitues]

Insightful post

[@micahkiyimba8641]

It's because they never commit to build a team around the given strikers' skillset. They bring them in..expect goals. If they don't score the goals expected, they are offloaded and the process is repeated. They have the same approach to managers and the whole squad as well. Chelsea is only commmited long term at academy level. At senior level they have the $$$ to just keep chopping and changing every possible moving part. Everything they do at Senior level is for the short term...ALWAYS.

[@JaySmurkzTV]

pretty much spot on... but I'd add that strikers simply have to adjust at Chelsea.

[@RomaInvicta202]

Chelsea and united are very good at wasting players' talents (at least Chelsea wins something sometimes) and then blaming the players; I honestly don't understand why people get themselves in these clubs? Ziyech, Lukaku, Sancho could play anywhere

[@christmascactus1882]

Ziyech is being hravily linked to a return to Ajax, another team that is struggling with creativity after losing 5 starting players in the last transfer window. He'd be part of a swap deal for defensive midfielder Alvarez. He's really being wasted at Chelsea, hope the deal go's through.

[@RyuzakiTaiyou]

Best German players in the premier league of all time. (Day 409) I will not give up until the video is made or Alfie himself tells me to stop. Everyone else telling me that will be ignored. If you don't believe my number, just go back to the previous videos. I'm at the bottom most of the time, but I'm there.

[@JoDyMa]

DAY 19: Hey Alfie, could you do a video on the life, career, controversies and tragedy of Justin Fashanu. It'd be your best video yet and it's a criminally underheard story. ❤️

[@rickyricardo834]

VIDEO SUGGESTION: I’ve always wondered what happened to stadiums built for world cup events, in particular Brazil and South Africa, countries have always been eager to host the events some without even the infrastructure and I’m wondering is it really worth building a stadium that will be used for only one month. Big Ups from Jamaica 🇯🇲🇯🇲

[@1998Cebola]

He talks about that in the last WC video about the Qatar WC already being a failure but spoiler alert: it isn't.

[@melodiclogic9904]

@@1998Cebola it's a failure on Fifas part, it literally exposed their corruption and workers died building the stadiums on ridiculously low wages. the housing situation is awful for fans and the people there are repressed under an authoritarian monarchy, the bribery couldve been spent on idk... diversifying their income once their precious oil reserves run out? but no, sportswashing is the way to go. all that aside, yeah I'm sure it's gonna be the tournament of a lifetime

[@machineman19]

Good to see another Jamaican here. Your comment reminds me of our Trelawney Multipurpose stadium that was built for the 2007 cricket world cup.

[@owen_nx]

All South Africa's stadiums are still operating. We actually play sports, whether rugby or football. But the capacity of the stadiums were too big so don't get full every game. Soccer City (where the final was held) has a 90 000 seat capacity. During the Soweto Derby between Orlando Pirates and Kaiser Chiefs, the stadium is full to the brim.

[@musabenimexya]

Chelsea have had this problem with strikers for nearly two decades though. It's just that, since Didier Drogba was such an amazingly talented striker, his overall gamesmanship did very well at compensating for the fact that no manager has been able to get to play at least decently any of the other strikers Chelsea have had ever since Drogba was around other than Eidur Gudjohnsen, so much that Gudjohnsen himself eventually left because he wasn't quite the same sort of striker Drogba was either. Hernán Crespo, Mateja Kezman, Adrian Mutu, Andriy Shevchenko, Claudio Pizarro, Nicolas Anelka, Daniel Sturridge, Fernando Torres, and Romelu Lukaku, all shared forward duties with Drogba at some point before the latter left the club and no manager had the proper tactical assessment to get any of them to score regularly. Chelsea didn't lack much goalscoring because, besides Drogba, Lampard (even more prolifically than Drogba) and Hazard were just that good at keeping the squad's attacking production up. The club were lucky enough to have them at the very top of their game.

[@JaySmurkzTV]

Chelsea have a unique set up, in that teams aren't built around strikers. Drogba and Costa were very versatile and could adjust to various Chelsea systems.

[@Skillfuljoe23]

Chelsea is a club that consistently makes wanna take a bat and smash my tv EVERY single game! I have cried out for creative midfielders for years now!

[@d.n.tranger1457]

Ever since Costa left, I have to suffer through 5 years of frustration to see our strikers constantly struggle to find the back of the net consistency 😡

[@areebsiddiqui758]

Just saying that Abraham scored 18 goals in 19/20 season and last season for Roma he got 27. None of the insanely expensive shiny toys Chelsea have brought in over the last 5 years have come close. Yet all he got was abuse and criticism from Chelsea fans when he was by far our best striker post Drogba. Not saying he's world class or anything but still a far better option than anyone Chelsea tried to replace him with, Aubameyang included.

[@creepinasicrawl]

@@areebsiddiqui758 thank you so much for mentioning this. I could not understand why tuchel didn't like Abraham. It was totally apparent that he was quite good. Maybe he felt he didn't fit his style but they were stupid for getting rid of him. Mourinho seen his quality and was a smart move getting him for only 35 million.

[@d.n.tranger1457]

@@areebsiddiqui758 but as soon as the new year began, he hasn't scored that consistently only 3 goals from what I remember. I know he's got potential since I saw him in the academy, it's just frustrating that I don't see him score more often.

[@areebsiddiqui758]

@@d.n.tranger1457 Because Tuchel just didn't play him. Mourinho saw the talent in him and really upped his game at Roma. And we know Jose's track record with strikers.

[@d.n.tranger1457]

@@areebsiddiqui758 I meant during the 19/20 season.

[@Omamedee]

Strikers fail at Chelsea because Chelsea has failed to realize the caliber of strikers that succeed with them. Take a look at Hasseinbank, Drogba and Costa they all have one thing in common. They are aggressive, they have a strong personality in and off the pitch. Drogba and Costa are team players, they track back and get involved in play not waiting for players to bring the ball to them in the box 18. Another thing is we lack creative midfielders unlike back them we had Ballack, Lampard, Malouda and most recently Cesc Fabregas.

[@arjunmustaine1761]

Because of Lack of service and lack of patience.

[@AdThe1st]

We haven't had a striker score goals since we had Cesc Fabregas putting up 18 assists in the league

[@GardinerAlan]

VIDEO SUGGESTION: Oil money club reject team tournament - players that were let go by oil money clubs (Chelsea, Man City, PSG) and turned out to be amazing/world class elsewhere. I imagine Chelsea would win with De Bruyne & Salah but would be interesting and nostalgic to see the rest.

[@TylerAven10]

Alfie, you should make a video about the 7 World Cup squads that have the fewest domestic players. It would be interesting to see the reasons that would cause that to be the case. Obviously will have to wait until every squad is announced but the only team I found with zero is Senegal (which makes sense considering like 60% of their roster was born in France)

[@alexpentchev352]

Video idea: how sanctions have affected Russian football

[@bendemis2928]

I never really thought about it but it's true. Diego Costa has to be the best striker Chelsea have had since Drogba, but that's not saying much because Drogbas goal to game ratio is worst than people assume. If you really pay attention to the stats he's no where as good as Chelsea fans assume.

[@hi-ls6lt]

I think it’s because Drogba has such a good record in finals that Chelsea fans regard him so well. Just my feeling.

[@D1Snr]

I was going to comment the same. Drogba was a great forward but even his goal scoring ratio wasn't that great. He scored some huge goals in big games which distorts peoples perception of him

[@bendemis2928]

@@D1Snr yeah. 104 goals in 254 matches as a striker isn't really that great. That's 4 goals every 10 matches. It took him 8 years and 226 matches to get to 100.

[@George-jc3mt]

@@hi-ls6lt he also has good seasons to lmao he scored 29 premier leauge goals

[@besimsala20]

Vialli, Zola,Hughes,Flo,Hasselbaink,Gudjohnsson were better players therefore fans have high expectations.

[@heliumtrophy]

This has been a thing at Chelsea for as long as I've been watching football - even when they had Glenn Hoddle as their manager (which shows how old I am), there wasn't a real out and out goalscorer that could get them 20 goals a season. That year with Glenn Hoddle bringing them to the FA Cup Final, they had Mark Stein and Gavin Peacock as their strikers and they combined in both competitions scored 28 goals. The likes of Drogba and Diego Costa have always been an exception at Chelsea. Decent but they've always relied more on their team generating the goals more often than just relying on the strikers to knock one in. Abramovitch wanted to change the culture but it must be said that when Mourinho first came to the Premier League he was the right man for the right team. Yes there would be flashes of skill but dogged pragmatism must be key if they were to succeed. The only problem for Abramovitch is that in the years afterwards he was much like Florentino Perez in the original galacticos era picking out flavour of the month players and managers and hoping it would all fit. Now with this new era in place, it will be interesting to see what happens next....and how they solve the striker problem that this team almost always has.

[@metalswifty23]

Hasselbaink, Drogba, Costa. 3 phenomenal strikers, but that's all we have to show for great strikers in the last 20 years, even 30+ years going all the way back to Dixon. It's criminal how many strikers have failed here.

[@olonanhlumayo8496]

Think you rate sterling a little too high talking about he can score 25 goals. He is a good player but he is merely a cog in a well oiled system. Generally he’s not the go2 player u think can win u a match

[@domiwood95wd]

Loved the vid, always a pleasure seeing your latest uploads!!

[@Joolz1982]

Our Wingers like to score and need a focal point. Agree yes our central midfield never assist the striker really. In theory Kai Havertz is our perfect forward by not really being one. The Ziyech problem is position related, we do not use natural wingers or number 10s.

[@macfizzle83]

Hi Alfie…a suggestion for a video. Players who left a little to be desired but were amazing consistently only against one club. As an Evertonian, I can think of a few (Dinyar Bilyatedinov for Everton vs Wolves (check out the goals he scored against them, arouna kone versus sunderland and Gary Mcallister, Divock Origi and Efan Ekoku versus us)

[@BALHAM69]

a documentary on the afc Wimbledon on the nine promotions in eleven years, how they’re a fan own club and how they have a stadium in plough lane now. The story of they lost the club, how the F A allowed that and won’t allow that anymore. How they were very close to moving to ireland How they went up the English football leagues. It would be a good documentary video if you can do this. #thepeopleschannel

[@oneoneday]

Superb analysis here. There’s no doubt that chelsea have a creativity issue which needs to be addressed sooner rather than later

[@lotachukwuuyanne9366]

the reason lukaku and werner failed was jorginho. Him taking penalties (a striker's bread and buter) made it difficult for them to get runs of form going. If we let our strikers take penalties the confidence they gain from scoring would make them score more goals. Lukaku would have been a lot better if we really made him our main man

[@Kuda33]

Wisdom will kill you!

[@VIVIHESS]

Y E S

[@mrsmokingskittles148]

Bullshit

[@WarriorKM35]

Why would we inflate shit strikers’ stats😂😂😂

[@adenihunadewale9214]

What if there were not much penalties

[@frieza2235]

The hate for Ziyech is costing Chelsea dearly

[@danielbowers8124]

Stability is the main issue We got rid of Costa (wrongly) and replaced him (wrongly) with a complete different type of player. Timo was constantly played on the wing, end product was the only thing missing. He had everything else and was again wrongly sold. Tammy was the only one given consistent chances to start as a striker and proved if that was the case then a striker would deliver. But again wrongly sold Lukaku just unfortunately didn’t want to be there but should have been the man used to replace Costa anyway and we’d have avoided the above issues in the first place.

[@alamo134]

You know, as Milan fan, I am outrageous with Chelsea's recent performances. Chelsea destroyed Milan two times. After Milan was destroyed, they were rising by destroying their opponents in last two group matches of UCL group stage. Also, they're sitting on 2nd in Serie A (despite the big margin between Napoli and AC Milan). I mean, I was expecting Chelsea to sit at least 5th on Premier League, seeing how they can secure their domination in UCL. But then... Chelsea left with such horrible result. I hope Chelsea would be better team after WC break.

[@ChazTB]

We are still missing our wingbacks and 7 of 11 of our total starting 11 are injured and last week it was 8/11. The squad that is currently playing has so little chemistry its unsurprising we aren't top 6. That being said I wouldnt expect us to be top 4 anyway this season

[@stephenowen3383]

Love that you brought up Giroud. One of the most underrated strikers of his generation. Adds so much to teams even at a pretty old age. I personally think that him being replaced by Benzema may well have upset the balance of that France team completely.

[@oceanmike8516]

16:01 rare L from alfie here. Potter has test 11 different formations last season for Brighton and usually changes systems often in games.

[@Arponare]

Individual talent helps, but I think coaching also plays a big part.

[@alexmanai1953]

People say Lukaku FAILED ? He got bullied by tuchel, used wrong by tuchel, put on the bench by tuchel and he still was their top scorer He didnt even get a chance 2 play a full season as a starter

[@mrsmokingskittles148]

Because he said he didn't want to play for Chelsea a month after joining Chelsea and wanted to go back to inter Milan in TV interview

[@briandeal8927]

Why do they suffer? Because of our midfielders. Costa had Hazard and Fabergas. Drogba had Ballack and Lampard. We don’t have creative midfielders to supply and depend on Reese and Chilwell.

[@retroup1085]

I think Chelsea problem started with Mourinho Chelsea has been a counter attacking type of team that is why conte had success,even Mourinho and the best striker to have in such a team is a big,fast,intelligent,excellent hold up play and conversion, and I agree part of the reason is we dont have a creative player who loves to assist,zyche is better option

[@paulnwankwo488]

This is spot on Chelsea out router in being a physical counter attacking team

[@ssemergencyworld7362]

We have an identity crisis and I think just need to keep a manager for more than 2 seasons and really build something special again so we seem unique. I don't see us winning another league title for the next 5 seasons but if Todd can support Potter then I think we could have something special again

[@noblekman]

We destroy players that want to help us as Chelsea.. Ziyech is going through a Mata phase at Chelsea, Fabre .. Deco I dont think I need to go on. We have all the tools at Chelsea we just don't have the right people pulling the strings at the top to enable the operational stuff (players and coaches) to have attacking players have conducive and long careers at the club. I see it as a tradition and not clearing up all the influence affecting the problem or either not having the right personnel there. Not sure if clubs work like companies where a handover of some sort is done. The new era of Chelsea strikes me as one that wants to rewrite history and not just continue or elevate the history.

[@adamwilliams2874]

Chelsea like most top clubs hoard talent , Hudson odi, pulisic , ziyech, probably could name loads more who make a handful of appearances a season and the rest of the time on the bench

[@realtalk169]

Long time hitc sevens haven't made a sensible video... I wish you continue in that trend....

[@arzhi_azis]

Day 347: Indonesia XI If All Eligible Players Had Declared For Them.

[@ichigoichie369]

I dont think we are getting this until world cup is over.

[@hi-rr2vm]

Keep dreaming bocah

[@K.Impact]

They have players from different manager philosophies. They sack managers too much and the current manager is left with a mishmash of players from different philosophies that don't all fit his philosophy. They need to have a long-term manager that buys all players in his philosophy but they've shown they don't have the patience.

[@BiffTheBanana]

This pretty much sums up my frustration supporting Chelsea, as well as with players like Jorginho who so often have this sort of creative role misattributed to them as something they can do simply because they can pick out a decent pass. I seemed to be the only person I know who was at all disappointed that we let Tammy go after no one managed to outscore him, including the fact when Tuchel came in he basically stopped existing. We need a creative midfielder, and we need another quality home grown forward (hopefully it works out for Broja)

[@iam_vnce]

the reason is very clear. OUR MIDFIELD LACK CREATIVITY. we’ve changed about 4 strikers without refurbishing our midfield. let me use facts: why do you think tammy abraham tried at the no9 role, because mount and kovacic played the no 8 role in a 433 and they supplied him, the full backs also supplied him

[@djdnevekdgsb949]

No one who’s ever watched Ziyech at Chelsea would have this opinion of him

[@krishnab.a2524]

Chelsea need stability and a coach who can provide clearly defined roles for the players. The changes in managers and philosophies is not helping them.

[@BlueLionsTVNiiNiiFC]

It's simply because the way we play never compliments their strengths. Forwards are the icing on the cake which dictates how you play. We have forever signed forwards to get them to do the opposites of where their strengths lie. Its simply poor management. Time and time again. Lets hope Boehly gets things right, compared to our previous regime

[@austinedeclan10]

Mount would rather shoot than pass when he's in possession in the opposition box

[@UraFlight]

Spot on mate ! I’ve said that so many times

[@egiputrak]

He's lampard wannabe

[@opeyemiopegbemi3475]

Lamps nah. 😂

[@cadian122]

The people Chelsea drove away... Salah, De Bruyne, Lukaku, and their Owner who brought them their success and standing ...

[@onlyrecordeditz1456]

Chelsea keep changing formation while the simple basics are unattended to. Too predictable So much time wasted before making a key pass. Wing to wing style of attack only No 1-2 passes No pass and move Barely one touch pass Never taking dangerous chances

[@ChelseaKTBFFH-qm9gk]

People who say ziyech needs to play do not watch the games…. He’s been with us 3 years and has had 5 good games

[@shaqtaku]

Great piece of investigation👏

[@343JustMe]

It took 3 minutes to explain the premise of the video that was very clearly understandable by the title

[@aliyumadaki7897]

Stop wasting your time any striker including Haaland will struggle at Chelsea with our current midfield,no doubt about it.

[@ZekPlaysHD]

I've always been confused at how a team full of such talented players can flop so frequently. Not to overhype their individual talent but most of their squad are absolutely bonkers by themselves, yet in a blue shirt they're shite. Legit don't understand!

[@ezraezra2928]

You know, the reason why Chelsea strikers didn't achieve a best form was one thing: They had the same syndrome as Manchester United. If Manchester United's strikers were struggling with number 7 (Cristiano Ronaldo), Chelsea had number 9, which is unlucky. Players such as Fernando Torres, Gonzalo Higuain, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, and Romelu Lukaku didn't score more goals! Not only Chelsea. Milan had also this number 9 syndrome after the departure of Filippo Inzaghi until Olivier Giroud came in. Furthermore, some players use the weird numbers like the iconic 99 used by Donnaruma.

[@BlueMonk25]

Chelsea haven't had a management thay works a system for far too long now. Sarri was the last, and everyone hated him for it. He was building a team that suited that system, but wasn't given enough time. Higuain was brilliant during his brief stint, his movement was superb, he was so unlucky, many near misses. I'm sure is total and xG would have been 10 plus goals. I was totally against the signing of Lukaku, he is an overrated one dimensional player. We should have just such with Tammy. He'd have improved. For whatever reason, I'm still Perplexed as to why Werner didn't work out. One key area I see lacking is that we do not have a forward who can hold the ball up and bring the others into play. This is why Drogba was so good.

[@kingshark9057]

Because there is a very real curse on forwards at Chelsea that only Drogba and Costa didn't suffer from in the Abramovich era

[@MrReese]

I think it's important to look at the goals per 90 stat instead of just looking at appearances - or even better, goal contributions per 90. Some players, like Werner, for example, have not been regular starters at all unfortunately. Also, I believe that Chelsea often buys players that do not fit their style of play - something that could also be said about ManUtd in recent history. The last point I want to make is: firing Tuchel was a huge mistake and it feels like the people in charge of Chelsea now have no clue what they are doing. Tuchel did an amazing job keeping Chelsea up there last season with all the drama regarding Abramovich and the sale of the Club.

[@rkujay]

You overlooked the Godfather of Chelsea failed forwards (failwards?) Shevchenko. I recall him coming off multi 20 plus goal seasons, only to net 9 in his epic time at Stamford Bridge.

[@onlyrecordeditz1456]

Physicality and fitness training is none existence

[@lc9245]

My theory is Chelsea great recruitment and deep pocket created this situation through its ability to acquire quality midfielders. Great midfielders are able to do everything: defend, keeping pace of play, create chance and score. If everyone can and do score, then dedicated strikers would naturally become less targeted and score less. This is not an unenviable position however. Chelsea still wins trophies when their striker don’t produce. As long as the team still score, should we care whether the strikers put numbers on the board? Giroud played all 7 games for France in 2018 World Cup, failed to convert any of his 13 shots, and France still won with ease. It’s only when the team is relying on the striker to score and he consistent failed, should it be considered a problem.

[@muzinkomo7328]

Send this vid to the coach of Chelsea

[@isaaccharles4251]

It's a bigger issue. Bigger than a striker. You have to go all the way back to the midfield. Just said it well, the last big striker was Diego Costa. If you look at his midfield, he had the likes of fabregas and hazard. Who wouldn't score 20+ with such creativity Same for drogba, the likes of remires, mata. But now, Chelsea has zero creativity from the midfield. Jorginho has only one pro, passing, kova dribbling, Kante defence. No creativity means transition from defense to attack is hard. This makes it impossible for a striker to score

[@seanlahm4826]

Simple. Chelsea keeps buying winger after winger who they hope become goal scorers . Managers also dont get much time and freedom to really implement their system. Either you set up your offense so that your wingers provide assists to those forwards or you buy wingers who are straight up goal scorers. Its difficult to have both at the same time. Too many different managers bringing in "their" players with no established "team" identity.

[@mfumorikhotso5543]

I just feel bad for Graham Potter

[@JahmmiOfficial]

I think it was wrong for Potter to leave Brighton and go to Chelsea as he will fail there I'm sure of it. This video only confirms my feelings which I had since day one when I heard the rumors.

[@spoots1234]

The more discussion I hear, the more I realize Potter isn't a top tier manager. He hasn't shown any ability to gauge players quickly and play a balanced team. He took ages to realize Ziyech and Pulisic are even remotely useful compared to the out of form messes he keeps fielding.

[@SilliusSodus]

I just know this won’t be easy to watch 💀💙💙

[@johntreherne4611]

the likes of anelka, giroud and crespo did pretty well for chelsea weren't as a prolific as drogba or costa but got a reasonable goal return out of these players. abraham as pointed out did pretty well for chelsea.

[@besimsala20]

Anelka was a better poacher than Drogba. He had more accuracy.

[@arjunravi3101]

I can see chuk will be leave soon and he will be the one in the section of salah, debruyne, robben sett, if not in that exact extreme level but he will be on the list of names that fans regret, my personal opinion

[@opeyemiopegbemi3475]

Poor creativity and I don't understand what the coach, owners and players are thinking. If possible the whole team needs a revamp because we don't need some players in that squad . And if possible they should tryout the dudes in the development squad , see Hall oh my geez. That's talent

[@kbskbreezy]

Still regret lukaku leaving inter to join them. Dude was finally getting respect and was regarded as one for the best strikers in the world and gave it all up.

[@Wooderz245]

It's worth pointing out that, at the same time that Chelsea chose not to play Kevin De Bruyne in midfield, they also chose not to play Mo Salah in attack.