Chelsea 3-1 Southampton – Five Key Takeaways  – Talk Chelsea

The below were my five key takeaways from our 3-1 Premier League win against Southampton on 2 October 2021 at Stamford at Stamford Bridge.

1. Timo’s perseverance pays off

As my good friend Alex Goldberg wrote shortly after full time, Timo Werner’s best trait is his perseverance. I could not agree with this more. Along with perseverance, he also brings about many other invaluable intangibles such as commitment, courage, determination and a team-first mantra.

His countless amount of runs to create space for his team mates are something that won’t grab the headline but play a vital role in generating goal-scoring opportunities. The best example is of course the run he made to open up the space for Mount to play in Havertz in the Champions League final.

In this match, Timo was a menace for the Saints. Whether it be him running tirelessly down the channels, linking up with Romelu or another team mate, or waiting to pounce on a rapid counter attack, the German striker was making sure he was going to give the Southampton backline a busy outing.

After having a headed goal chalked-off for a very dubious VAR intervention for a supposed foul right before half-time, instead of dropping his head, he kept himself positive and was looking dangerous throughout. As a reward for his perseverance, he showed sharp presence and composure to slot him Azpilicueta’s cross from close range to give the Blues their 2nd goal which was huge in that moment.

If he can keep up these kinds of performances and continue to improve on his finishing, he should be able to find himself in the starting side more often than not!

2. Chilwell plays Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Much of the criticism’s recently directed at Chelsea related to their lacklustre attack. A large reason for this was believed to be attributed to the Blues’ inability to effectively utilise the full width of the pitch and have their wingbacks get in behind their opponents so as to disrupt well-organised defensive structures.

During this clash, both Captain courageous Cesar Azpilicueta and the recently-omitted English international Ben Chilwell were hugely effective in spreading the Saints apart and making incisive runs in behind their defence to cause plenty of headaches for Haselhüttl’s men.

In particular, Ben Chilwell was looking very lively since being recalled by Tuchel and continues his resurgence back into the first team on a regular basis. In the first half, ‘Chilly’ was playing very high up the pitch and helped pin-back the Saints and was very unlucky not to add to Chalobah’s opener as McCarthy made some sharp saves to deny Chilwell (at least until the second half, more on that below).

Notwithstanding his strong performance, there was a moment of madness from Ben as his mistimed slide tackle in the box on Tino Livramento allowed James Ward-Prowse to slot home emphatically and give the Saints an unlikely equaliser and a sudden injection of belief that they could perhaps get not only one point, but maybe even three.

Fortunately for the home side Ward-Prowse was sent-off shortly after for a poor challenge on Jorginho which allowed them to regain the ascendancy which included Chilwell’s scintillating strike in the 89th minute to give Chelsea a 3-1 lead and seal the match for them.

Overall though, there more positives than negatives from Chilly’s performance.

3. Fresh faces inject pace and purpose

Following Chelsea’s underwhelming display against the Italian giants Juventus, there were calls for Tuchel to ‘shake things up’ personnel-wise and bring in some fresh faces to add a different dimension to the Blues.

When the team sheet was released, it was fair to say that there was both many eyebrows raised but equally, plenty of smiles from the collective Chelsea community. Finally the fans had been given what they had asked for – pace and power!

From the outset, it was clear that these changes were absolutely spot on. As predicted in his pre-match press conference, Thomas Tuchel was anticipating that Southampton would continue their aggressive pressing strategy and try to exploit the Blues high up the pitch.

While the Saints showed plenty of good moments with and without the ball, the courage, tenacity and skill of the Chelsea players, particularly those called into the side (Loftus-Cheek, Hudson-Odoi, Chalobah, Chilwell, Werner), was first class.

Further, the substitutions made from Tuchel in the second half (Mason Mount, Ross Barkley and Jorginho) were exactly what was needed to help the Blues overcome a Saints side who were not only resilient, but growing in confidence at that point.

The most important takeaway from this match was that the Blues genuinely are able to rely on their broader squad and do have solutions depending on the opponent. It will be up to Tuchel to continue to correctly identify which players and combinations are appropriate for each match given no two sides represent the exact same challenge or profile.

4. Controversy and Chelsea go hand-in-hand

Despite the Saints giving it their best to frustrate the Blues and cause problems of their own, the reality was that Chelsea were the dominant team in all aspects in the first half. While Chalobah got things going for the Blues in the 9th minute, Tuchel’s men were only lacking that finishing touch to truly cement their authority and take full control of the clash.

On two occasions in the first half the Blues had a goal disallowed. The first was for a narrow offside from Romelu Lukaku – tough, but fair. The second VAR intervention however was a totally different story.

What transpired was truly baffling. After Timo Werner headed in from close range following Hudson-Odoi’s pin-point floated cross, the Blues thought they would be heading into the sheds with a well-deserved two-goal lead. Unfortunately, the pantomime villain of VAR struck again.

Cesar Azpilicueta was adjudged to have fouled Walker-Peters in the build-up, however that action was not called at the time by Atkinson and occurred long before the goal. Tuchel was booked for showing his emotions after that dubious decision was reached.

Fortunately in the second half the Blues were the recipients of a correct VAR intervention as James Ward-Prowse was dismissed for a reckless slide tackle on Jorginho in the 77th minute. The worrying aspect of this decision was how long it took for it to arrive. A lot of time had passed before Atkinson finally gave Ward-Prowse his marching orders.

While it was all smiles for Tuchel and his Blues given the positive result in the end, the concerning theme and alarming trend is the continued inconsistency and questionable officiating which, if not resolved, can potentially be an influential factor come season’s end. Hopefully the Blues will be able to deliver sufficiently strong enough performances so as to avoid the referees being a consideration.

5. Livramento’s legacy is growing

In the pre-season, the talk of the Chelsea community was how great the transfer business was. The Blues had made a huge acquisition in bringing back Romelu Lukaku to the club. However to make that happen, a number of peripheral and young players needed to make way. One of these players to leave Stamford Bridge was rising young prospect Tino Livramento

Photo by James Williamson – AMA/Getty Images

Tino has been exceptional since joining the Saints and is looking very much like an established Premier League star already. Tuchel mentioned in his pre-match comments that the club did all they could to convince Tino to stay but given the competition of James and Azpilicueta in front of him, they were unsuccessful in persuading him.

During this clash, Tino showed his qualities in both facets of play. While he is renowned for being an an attacking-based wing-back, including his clever footwork to draw a penalty from Chilwell, he showed times against his old club that he is more than competent in his defensive duties as he thwarted Hudson-Odoi on multiple occasions in what was an intriguing personal duel.

Final comments

Chelsea needed to respond after rare back-to-back defeats against Manchester City and Juventus. While the result is always the most important statistic, Tuchel would have equally wanted to see an improved all-round performance to help suppress an evolving narrative that the European Champions are looking vulnerable. Fortunately for him and Blues fans, Chelsea delivered a much improved display which was built on the foundation of intensity and self-belief, particularly from the fresh set of faces who were superb.

Notwithstanding the Blues were aided by the extra man from the 77th minute onward, Chelsea were the stronger of the two sides prior to that point (including possession, territory, shots, and chances created) and were thoroughly deserved winners.

The challenge for Tuchel and his troops will be to ensure that they come back after the international break with the same level of confidence, composure and concentration that they showed against the Saints. With a promising set of fixtures post-international break, the Blues could go on a strong run and cement themselves at the top end of the Premier League town. Here’s hoping!

Come on you Blues!

Twitter: @RJ_Goodthings