Frank LeBoeuf slams Chelsea’s ‘clumsy’ strikers 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 don’t know how to score a goal’
Speaking on ESPN afterwards, LeBoeuf 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.
LeBoeuf: ‘Chelsea should have bought Harry Kane’
‘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.’
Conclusion
It’s clear that Chelsea’s lack of an experienced striker is hurting them this season. Frank LeBoeuf believes that if the Blues had signed someone with more experience in the summer window, they would be in a much better position right now. With their current strikers struggling to find the back of the net, it’s no surprise that Chelsea are struggling in the Premier League.
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