S Poddar
The Blues solidified their good away form at the expense of West Ham, who dived deeper into despair following a home game defeat for Julen Lopetegui. Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali were seen in the stands together, having a good day preceding another good result, but the main focus was on the storm brewing at West Ham.
Lopetegui’s stint as the manager following David Moyes has not gotten off to the best of starts, and two straight home defeats are certainly instilling many a pang of anguish into the city of London. Many had wondered whether an appointment of the type that glorified defensive organization rather than attacking panache would work out for a manager. Chelsea found gaping holes in West Ham’s defense and took full advantage of them. Nicolas Jackson scored early and a brace followed in the same softish manner. Lopetegui was candid when he admitted, “It was a very soft way to lose.”
Chelsea’s first goal arises from the failure of West Ham’s concentration. Aaron Wan-Bissaka West Ham right back was caught napping when quick thinking Jadon Sancho made Jackson free. He did not make any mistake, putting it past Alphonse Areola. That was Sancho’s second assist in two games, the kind of service that he had provided in a similar game at Bournemouth the week before. Jackson still had work to do, but he finished clinically, once again proving his worth to Chelsea.
Christopher Nkunku, who had netted the winner against Bournemouth, started from the bench but Sancho got his first start of the season. This is one of Chelsea’s iconic checkmate transfer moves. They believe they have gotten a steal with Sancho’s loan and the reduced transfer price. The outcast of Manchester United looks renewed at Chelsea. Under Maresca’s system, the soon-to-be-old-world wide man has flourished.
Eighteen minutes in and already Lopetegui was raising frustrations. Jackson, the raw but skillful forward, was causing a havoc. His second was a good finish with the outside of his boot, after a too-easy through ball from Moisés Caicedo. Jackson was unstinting in praise for himself saying, “a good finish.” Maresca was similarly fulsome in praise for both his scorers, remarking, “It’s not just that they scored the goals. The way they played off the ball was important.”.
While Chelsea’s frontplay was impressive, their backline remains a worry. It is pretty much like their other games, where they remain soft if their opponents go through the middle. While West Ham did not take much advantage of this weakness, the cracks were visible. More importantly, Chelsea got some fortune. VAR decided that Wesley Fofana’s tackle on Crysencio Summerville didn’t quite win a penalty, which Lopetegui refused to moan about: “It’s only one excuse.”.
By then, the second period had already started, with any hope of taking something from the game fast disappearing for West Ham. Then, within minutes, Chelsea emerged triumphant with three points in their bag. Jackson provided an intelligent pass to Cole Palmer, and in this instance, Palmer demonstrated his finishing ability, slotting the ball past the defense of West Ham. Palmer’s composure in front of goal spelled out Chelsea’s growing strength going forward, but all this was a glaring reminder of defensive frailties for West Ham.
West Ham supporters were far from ecstatic, but Lopetegui showed balls in making a change when Tomas Soucek replaced Guido Rodríguez after 38 minutes. The manager took the onus saying, “If a coach changes a player in the first half it’s not the fault of the player is fault of the coach”. For West Ham, it was unfortunate that tactical switch did little to halt Chelsea’s dominance.
But for a brief moment shortly after resuming for their second half, West Ham’s attack was toothless and, although Jarrod Bowen at his best will thrive off the right wing and was used centrally this time, he didn’t receive much support. In reflection, Bowen summed it up bluntly: “We were never in the game, which is an awful thing to say.” Lopetegui’s decision to replace Lucas Paquetá with Andy Irving, a little-known Scot signed from Austria Klagenfurt, raised eyebrows, but Irving could do little to change the outcome.
West Ham’s season has now started with three consecutive home defeats, an unwanted club record. Pressure is mounting on Lopetegui and fans start questioning whether he indeed is the right person for the job. In contrast, Chelsea’s post-match revelry only served to further project an image of a club that seems to be falling into a rhythm. Both co-owners went down to the locker room to wish the players well. Maresca was pleased with the result but was rather cautious: “It’s always good that we win the game for them.”. They were all happy. I think we are going on the right track. This is a long journey. It looks like everything is okay, but not everything is okay. We could attack better, we could defend better”.
For Chelsea, at least it looks bright, what with young Jackson and Palmer enjoying a decent spell. For West Ham, though, it’s open season on questions about how much longer they’ll have Lopetegui to work his magic before fans will turn their attention elsewhere.
