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How Chelsea failed to spread their wings again in the land of the Magpies

If there is one criticism that can be made about Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is that his belief...



How Chelsea failed to spread t...
Soccer

How Chelsea failed to spread their wings again in the land of the Magpies

If there is one criticism that can be made about Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is that his belief in his methods and system can leave his judgement occasionally blinkered when change is necessary.

Jose Mourinho was taking another of his verbal swipes at Wenger on Friday, yet the Chelsea manager also needs to take a look at the attacking make-up of his team against Newcastle.

But for a late surge, the Blues could and probably should have lost at St James' Park, although they did rescue a 2-2 draw on Saturday evening.

Back when the Londoners were hammered by Manchester City in August, Chelsea's attack was notably narrow.

Now look at the FourFourTwo Stats Zone graphic for the areas of influence occupied by their players:

Again, Chelsea were extremely narrow. Of course, part of Eden Hazard's threat is his ability and willingness to cut inside from the left hand side as he makes line for the centre and goal.

Pedro on the other side, sat a little wider but not near the touchline on average. That should not normally be a problem as most modern wingers have tended to become inverted - in the sense that they cause most damage when cutting in than the old-school way of going round the outside consistently.

But the full-back pairing of Branislav Ivanovic and Cesar Azpilicueta have not contributed much in attack this season, with Ivanovic averaging 0.4 completed crosses per game and Azpiliceuta further back on zero according to stats by WhoScored.com.

In terms of chances created, the duo average one key pass each per game put together, which is low when you consider that Newcastle's Dutch right-back Daryl Janmaat averages almost that amount on his own, or when you consider that Arsenal's Hector Bellerin averages 1.5 on his own, or the slightly less attacking Nacho Monreal averages 1.1.

Of course, Chelsea also missed the threat posed by the suspended Diego Costa with Loic Remy nor Falcao really up to speed as the lone striker.

But certainly with little time left to waste - given Chelsea's horrendous start - Mourinho will have to find a way to give Hazard and Pedro more support on the flanks, so that when they do cut inside there is another attacking threat to support them and pull defenders away. 

Former Chelsea defender Paddy Mulligan reviewed the weekend's Premier League on the Rewind podcast:

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