Frank LeBoeuf slams Chelsea’s profligate attack after Aston Villa defeat
Chelsea legend Frank LeBoeuf has hit out at his old club’s struggling strikeforce and believes they messed up in the summer window by not signing an experienced forward.
The Blues were profligate once again in Sunday’s defeat to Aston Villa, with Ollie Watkins netting the game’s only goal shortly after Malo Gusto had been sent off.
As has become a theme this season, Chelsea had a host of excellent chances but were wasteful in front of goal and LeBoeuf believes his old club’s profligate attack is now a serious problem.
LeBoeuf: Chelsea’s lack of experience is costing them
Speaking on ESPN afterwards, he said: ‘In order to win a game you have to score a goal, it’s as simple as that. I’m very surprised that you have some players that have been playing for, for the youngest, maybe 15 years in football, and then some others maybe 20 years or 25 years, for Thiago Silva 30 years – and yet they don’t know how to score a goal!
‘That surprises me a lot, and I’ve seen so many possibilities for them to score goals and they didn’t. Nicolas Jackson has a future, but last year he was struggling until the other striker from Villarreal got injured so he came on. After that, Enzo Fernandez is not a top scorer, he showed it again, he had a possibility and he screwed it.
‘Raheem Sterling has never been a top scorer. He has been so clumsy in front of the goal, but he does have other qualities. Mykhailo Mudryk we don’t know what he’s worth because he just came from nowhere for £100million [sic]. And the others, I don’t know. Christopher Nkunku is injured so we’ll have to wait until he comes back.
‘If they have so much money, they should have bought Harry Kane or so many others. I see some players in France playing for Brest or Lorient, scoring goals like crazy, being a true striker, I’ve talked about Mitrovic before. Pick somebody with a little bit of experience who knows how to score a goal in the six-yard box!
‘Because we see that with Chelsea. They arrive – and it’s not even the last third, it’s when they are in the box! – and then they don’t know what to do with the ball. They’re not clever. They don’t pick the right choice. That’s absolutely crazy.
‘And the confidence goes down and now they struggle, they wonder, and at the end they do nothing.’
What next for Chelsea?
Chelsea have now lost three of their opening five Premier League games this season and face a tough test against Manchester United on Saturday. Frank Lampard’s side will need to find their cutting edge if they are to get anything from the game.
The Blues have been linked with a move for Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland in recent weeks and it is clear that they need to bring in an experienced goalscorer if they are to turn their season around.
Whether Chelsea can make such a move remains to be seen but one thing is for sure: if they are to challenge for honours this season, they must find a way to start converting their chances into goals.
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