Gianfranco Zola has bucked the trend and says Chelsea do not need a striker to be successful this season. With Armando Broja injured until next season and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang omitted from the Champions League squad, it will be down to Kai Havertz to lead the line once more.
Against Borussia Dortmund, Havertz will likely make his 10th start in a row in all competitions. The German forward has started all but one of Graham Potter's 16 league games in charge, scoring four goals in that time.
He is far from an orthodox No.9 though, and has looked at his best with another player close to him. Namely this has been Joao Felix but the pair have had limited time on the pitch with each other since the Portugal forward joined. It is the Champions League that has seen Havertz produce his biggest moment though, scoring the winning goal in the 2021 final.
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Outside of that he has struggled to consistently offer output or play his role as part of a cohesive attacking unit. This has been in part down to the wider failure of Chelsea going forward during the same period, a run stretching back to before Eden Hazard left. Havertz has been in England for two and a half years though and has still only scored 17 league goals, that simply isn't enough.
Often played in a hybrid role between striker, false nine and shadow striker, Havertz's exact position is still unknown. This hasn't seemed to be an issue for Felix, who has had similar accusations come his way at Atletico Madrid. There is a chance that the pair together could form an ironically old-fashioned strike partnership despite neither being true centre-forwards.
Between them they had the ball in the net three times in the first half an hour against West Ham but just one was onside. It was still a sign of attacking positivity that has been missing in recent months.
It is still hard to escape the feeling that Havertz is a square peg in a round hole. This situation opens itself up to easy criticism with what seems a simple answer. Chelsea have been told numerous times that they need a striker. A Harry Kane-like figure. An Erling Haaland. A scorer of goals.
The issue is that the last time they had one of these it failed miserably. Romelu Lukaku was meant to be the final piece of the jigsaw. Aubameyang was the short-term option. Haaland himself was the sure-fire way to make sure a Manchester City side that scored 94 goals last year would score more.
Insert the striker into two systems that had spent over 12 months without one though and Lukaku was isolated. Haaland still scores goals but other City players score fewer. The argument around whether he has improved them is worth noting when considering what Chelsea do next.
They have piled their squad high with creative attacking players but seemingly nobody to finish the chances. Zola, a player that was brilliant at laying on goals and scoring them too, doesn't see it as an issue, though. "You can play and win things without a No.9," he told Football Daily.
"Two years ago they [Chelsea] won the Champions League. [Thomas Tuchel] was playing with Kai [Havertz], [Timo] Werner and other No.10s. Sometimes Mason [Mount], somebody else, [Hakim] Ziyech or whoever and they were very successful.
"You can be successful playing without strikers. Manchester City teaches us a very good lesson in this sense. You can win in many different ways. You play without strikers but if you do that then you have to create a system in which you get those so good players in dangerous areas where their abilities can be really dangerous."
Potter himself often used Danny Welbeck as a striker at Brighton, but not for goalscoring. His positioning allowed him to be the fulcrum of attacks. He would occupy positions to take defenders out of the game, allowing the unit around him to do the scoring. Havertz isn't that same striker and leaves questions over how Potter now adapts.
That answer is far from straightforward but for now it might have to rely on the individual impetus of Felix, Havertz and Mykhailo Mudryk. Big games are often won by moments of inspiration and Chelsea now have plenty of that going forward. Even if it isn't executed like a perfect play it could be just as important.
You can watch live coverage of Chelsea's trip to face Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on BT Sport, here.
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