Jamie Carragher and Daniel Sturridge had some choice words for Chelsea's attackers after they once again failed to impress in front of goal. The pair of pundits also gave a clear answer to their striking problems.
It came after the Blues were once more profligate with their chances, missing a handful of huge chances during their 0-0 draw with Liverpool on Tuesday. The problem is nothing new this season though, Graham Potter's last two matches in charge saw them take create numerous opportunities, only scoring once from open play.
It is a season-long trend at Stamford Bridge too with just six goals scored at the ground in the first half all campaign. The 59 goals in their games, 29 for and 30 against, is the lowest tally in the league. Only seven sides have fewer than their meek total at this stage.
Kai Havertz was the main culprit against Jurgen Klopp's rotated backline but Mateo Kovacic also had guilt-edged chances. Reece James did have the ball in the net only for it to be disallowed for offside earlier in the move. Havertz himself also scored but the rebounded shot off Allison came off his arm.
It summed up the Blues' day and season ultimately. Carragher, who was critical of Todd Boehly's ownership so far on Monday night, continued to point out the flaws of the American's first 10 months. "I mean when you think about it they’ve had so many chances in the game - how does a club spend £600million and don’t buy a striker? It’s actually unbelievable, really.
"The performance today, it was a good performance. You should win that game 2-0 - you look at the xG numbers - Chelsea should go on and win it."
The issues are nothing new and former Blues forward Sturridge thinks that the players need to use new methods to improve their finishing. "What I will say is the confidence in front of goal, for me, that’s what it’s all about. When you’re running through [you need to be] slowing down and taking that little breather.
"Sometimes when I was running through I’d speak to myself and be like 'relax, calm yourself, breathe,' and then you pick your spot. You train on the training pitch every single day to be in these moments and be on autopilot, you don’t want to be through one-on-one and thinking about what you’re going to do.
"You want to have finishes which you know 'when I’m running in this area I’m gonna go that,' like a Thierry Henry running through and he slides it with his right foot into the far corner or Harry Kane will have his type of finish where more often than not it’s harder and low. It’s depending on, and I think the players that Chelsea have right now, it doesn’t seem they necessarily have a go-to type finish.
"It’s almost as if 'where can I put it?' Instead of going through being confident knowing 'I’m sliding this home,' or 'I’m going around the keeper.' They’re just lacking confidence and they need more players to come in from the wings if they’re going to have Joao Felix and Havertz because they’re very, very similar players.
"They have a lot of the same attributes so they do need a striker up their who can come in and be very relentless about scoring goals."
Chelsea have been bemoaned for not making more use of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The 33-year-old was once more left out of the squad by Bruno and hasn't featured since the 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest in January. They do still have Romelu Lukaku on the books and the Belgian may well return at the start of pre-season.
The next manager could be afforded the chance to use the 29-year-old, and Sturridge sees a world in which it benefits both player and club to be reunited once more. "I think it’s dependent on the manager. I think if the manager comes in and they can build a team around him - and I think that’s what Lukaku probably needs - so we’ll see.
"Hopefully whoever comes in will fancy him and will give him an opportunity because he didn’t really get a big chance to be able to come out and prove himself once again at Chelsea, it was a very short period of time. If he does come back and has a good pre-season I’m sure the manager will know this guy’s a goalscorer and he does provide goals.
"Maybe there are things that teams would want him to do a little bit more of, but in regards to scoring goals I’m not gonna question that - Lukaku does that and that’s what he’s known for. For argument's sake, we know that Lukaku's attributes are in the box, headers, one-touch finishes, things like that.
"If there are players around him who are going to provide those opportunities, maybe right now he’s the right player for Chelsea in terms of the chances they’re creating. If he was here you would anticipate he would probably score a few more of them, but I’m not saying Chelsea should be brining Lukaku back and building a team around him, I’m saying in regards to the team they have and the chances they create, he’s someone who can do what the team needs."
Lukaku has struggled for form and fitness this season at Inter Milan but has found the scoring touch in recent weeks, netting seven times in 10 games for club and country. As a Premier League proven striker that, due to his wages and transfer value, isn't easily a sellable asset, his use becomes more appealing for Boehly and Co.
The relationship with fans would take some rebuilding though with the former Manchester United and Everton striker torching his standing with the Stamford Bridge faithful last season.
Gary Neville, another vocal critic of Boehly-Clearlake, was just as frustrated by the frontline on show against Liverpool. "Well Chelsea deserve to be 1-0 up," he said on commentary in the second half. "It was never going to be a beautiful goal from Kai Havertz, he’s been struggling for confidence. As it rebounds off Alisson, does it hit Havertz's arm? Oh it does - that is going to be disallowed!
"These fans that are all around us are going to be sat back down, there’s a recognition already, you’ve probably just heard it. I was just about to say he was never going to take the first chance, he needed that little bit of luck and his luck didn’t stretch that far because it rebounded off his arm. It’s typical Chelsea at this moment in time, that sums it up."
He added afterwards: "Chelsea were by the far the better team. I think it’s a well-told story by now that they’re struggling badly, they’ve not got a centre forward, of all the investment that’s been made.
"They don’t have anybody out there on the pitch who really believes it’s their job to score a goal - there’s a couple of them that are happy to score a goal and contribute and chip in, but there isn’t that belief and feeling that they break their necks to get across the goalkeeper and finish with purpose, and it’s costing them.
"Even against Aston Villa - obviously Villa did a job on them - but still, they had many, many chances and they’ve got to deal with that, it’s an obvious problem."
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