There will be times when Chelsea’s approach looks like a masterstroke and others when it looks like madness. This was definitely the latter.
After the loss at West Ham came a defeat against a near-faultless Nottingham Forest who enjoyed an away day to remember at Stamford Bridge, displaying more evidence of the increased threat they will pose on the road this season after previously giving Arsenal and Manchester United scares.
For Chelsea it was another dominant performance, undone by individual error when they appeared to be in little danger to gift Anthony Elanga Forest’s winner, and a lack of composure and correct decision-making especially in the final third.
Both re-open the debate that will not go away, especially in these early stages for this team, about the wisdom of Chelsea’s decision to leave the squad short on experience and put so much faith in young players.
The spotlight shined brightest on misfiring forward Nicolas Jackson, reviving the question of how, after their well-documented £1billion spend over three transfer windows, Chelsea are still short of a proven and guaranteed goalscorer.
In the absence of that player, the burden has been on Jackson, who was guilty of missing Chelsea’s biggest chance, somehow lifting the ball over an open net from inside the six-yard box.
The 22-year-old signed from Villarreal in the summer, has plenty going for him.
The amount of work he gets through, for starters, means he always adds value to Mauricio Pochettino’s team.
This, though, was already not his day in front of goal before his late miss. His first touch had previously cost him a couple of chances.
He had also been booked for brandishing an imaginary yellow card and risked further potential punishment by going to ground easily.
As Pochettino began turning to his bench to try to impact the game, Jackson might have been a natural candidate to withdraw if he had alternatives.
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