Chelsea's attack has been a concern ever since Frank Lampard took over as manager at the start of the 2019/20 season.
The Blues, back then, were serving a transfer ban, so Lampard had to put all of his faith in what he already had at his disposal. The former Chelsea midfielder put plenty of trust in players that had come through the academy – with the likes of Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham both shining in his first season in charge.
Abraham struck 18 goals in the 2019/20 season – in all competitions – but despite this, there were still question marks over his long-term future at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea found it difficult, as you would, to replace the outstanding Eden Hazard, who joined Real Madrid following back-to-back seasons of finishing as the west Londoners' top goal scorer.
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The following season, Lampard was dismissed from his role in January and Thomas Tuchel took over the role of head coach. The German made Chelsea a solid team once again, but this had repercussions on the attacking setup.
Tuchel found it difficult to find the right balance between defending and attacking. However, it was the defensive stability that guided Chelsea to their second-ever Champions League triumph in May 2021.
The following campaign, in what was Tuchel's first full season in charge at Chelsea, the Blues managed to score 74 Premier League goals. On the face of it, that isn't a bad return but it was 18 behind Liverpool in second and 23 from eventual champions Manchester City.
There was more structure to Liverpool and Man City's attack. Their forward players were able to link up to devastate opposition defences. It's something Chelsea could not do.
There's a new era at Chelsea now, though, with Graham Potter the recently-appointed head coach. There's an endless to-do list for Potter when it comes to improving Chelsea and it will not be a quick fix by any stretch of the imagination.
One job that should be high on the 47-year-old's agenda is improving how his side attack. The extremely difficult job for football managers is finding the correct balance between defending and attacking, so both can be done in really impactful ways. Potter managed to do so at Brighton, but it took time.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was signed by Tuchel on transfer deadline day, can be a big part in improving Chelsea's attacking fortunes. The former Arsenal captain has proven over the years that he can be one of European football's most prolific strikers when he is on a hot streak of form.
The task for Potter is to try and get Aubameyang firing to the level we all know he can play at. The 33-year-old scored his first Chelsea goal on Saturday against Crystal Palace in what was his first Premier League match for the Blues.
Aubameyang only attempted two shots at Selhurst Park, with one of them going right in the bottom corner. His presence as a No. 9, though, worked well for the Blues. The attack looked more promising and this was shown by how many shots Chelsea had on goal.
Going into the game, the Blues were one of the Premier League teams with the least attempted shots to their name. However, Saturday saw Potter's team shoot on 13 occasions – the most they have registered in a Premier League game since August (against Leeds United).
This was the hope when Aubameyang came in on deadline day from Barcelona. He needs to have a similar impact on Wednesday when his former club AC Milan come to Stamford Bridge.
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