The big stat doing the rounds from Chelsea’s loss to Nottingham Forest on Saturday was an embarrassing one. The Blues had 21 shots, of which two were on target.
Looking back at the season so far, it’s clearly a major issue. Our top shooters are Nicolas Jackson, who is shooting 3.8 times per game, and Enzo Fernandez, who is shooting 2.8 times per game.
They have one goal between them.
As Saturday illustrated, it’s not just about taking shots. At the rate we were getting them on target, we could have played 4 games without scoring. It’s about getting players into position where those shots count. Enzo has a good strike on him, but we don’t really want him shooting almost 3 times a game. We want him sliding balls through the lines into Jackson and Sterling to score easy chances.
At the moment, we have the same problem every game – after a bright spell early on where we show we have the capability to pull the opposition apart, we lose energy and ideas. A wave of subs then disrupts out shape further, and a hail of hopeful long shots follows.
This needs to be sorted out, and fast.
