Six points from the last nine available stands as a fairly good return for Chelsea over the past week.
Wins over Watford and Crystal Palace boosted Frank Lampard’s hopes of Champions League qualification but a disappointing 3-0 defeat against Sheffield United on Saturday leaves the top four race wide open.
For all of Chelsea ’s success this season, it would be easy to forget pre-season doubts about a side losing Eden Hazard, under a transfer ban and being taken on by a relatively inexperienced manager.
The fact that the Blues are still in control of their own destiny for European qualification is a testament to the work Lampard and his squad have done this season. A semi-final tie in the FA Cup awaits and that strengthens the view that Chelsea have performed above early season predictions despite a number of factors going against them.
However, Lampard will be the first to point out that Champions League qualification is the bare minimum for Chelsea in terms of objectives. A total of 49 goals conceded this season illustrates the difficulty that the Blues have faced defensively and addressing that in the transfer market could be wise.
One thing that will concern Lampard, though, is how his team responds when they go ahead in matches. Against Crystal Palace, for instance, there appeared to be little control from the Blues with the game wide open right until the final whistle.
Chelsea have won just 47% of games they have been leading at half-time which includes a league-high of six draws. That type of record emphasises that they have been poor at defending leads this season and that may be the result of a lack of experience.
The 3-2 win over Palace could have quite easily been a draw had it not been for a desperate defensive challenge from Kurt Zouma to prevent Roy Hodgson’s side equalising in the dying stages of the game. That chance had only arrived through naive play further up the pitch where Tammy Abraham decided to try and create a chance instead of retaining possession to see out the game.
As a result, such a situation shows how this relatively inexperienced Chelsea side still has lots to learn if they want to become a title-challenging side. In that instance it may not have led to anything, but statistics from the season show that the Blues have been poor at maintaining their lead past the half-time break.
Six draws equates to 12 dropped points which could have put Lampard’s side level on points with Manchester City in second. Therefore, it shows the fine line that Chelsea have walked along this season but still might stand as an encouraging point to some extent.
The Blues have shown on many occasions that they can take the lead in games which is often a hard task in itself. Nevertheless, next season will be about maintaining those leads better than they have done past half-time throughout the current campaign.
