Poyet blasts Chelsea for falling out of the Premier League title race

Gus Poyet BLASTS Chelsea for falling out of the Premier League title race this season and insists his former club ‘can’t make excuses’ after losing ground on Man City and Liverpool at the top of the table

  • Chelsea have all but crashed out of the Premier League title race this season
  • Man City are 16 points ahead of the Blues at the top of the table right now
  • Thomas Tuchel’s men have paid the price for poor form in December and January
  • Gus Poyet says his old side can have no excuses for not challenging for the title
  • Poyet insists Chelsea should be up there with City and Liverpool this season 

Former Chelsea midfielder Gus Poyet insists his old club ‘can’t make excuses’ for not competing with Manchester City and Liverpool in the Premier League title race this season.

The Blues looked very much like title contenders heading into the new campaign, having followed up last season’s Champions League triumph by strengthening their attack with the £98million signing of Romelu Lukaku.

They made a strong start, winning 10 of their first 14 league games, yet throughout a miserable run in December and January Thomas Tuchel’s men only recorded four victories out of 11.

Gus Poyet has slammed Chelsea for not competing in the Premier League title race this season

Five draws and two defeats in that period all but ended their hopes of catching City, who are now 16 points away at the top.

And Poyet believes Chelsea have underachieved so far in the 2021/22 campaign. 

‘My opinion on Chelsea hasn’t changed; I thought at the beginning of the season that they needed to be title contenders,’ The Uruguayan said exclusively to Ladbrokes at the launch of its 5-A-Side bet on Chelsea v Newcastle.

‘When you are the Champions League winners, and you then go and sign a striker for £90m, that means you need to challenge for the title – it’s really simple.

Thomas Tuchel has seen his team fall by the wayside in the title race this season

Romelu Lukaku’s £90million arrival looked to be the final piece of Tuchel’s Blues jigsaw

But Poyet has slammed his former club for not keeping pace with Man City and Liverpool

‘We can’t make excuses; we can’t blame COVID, injuries or anything… Chelsea needed to be title contenders this year – that’s the bottom line. It’s because of Chelsea; they cannot blame anyone. 

‘Look, they haven’t lost too many games, but their issue has been too many draws, and that’s why they’re so far behind Manchester City and Liverpool.’

Chelsea’s biggest problem this season has been in the final third; with their tally of 53 goals scored significantly inferior to City (68) and Liverpool (71).

Lukaku’s return has so far proved disastrous, as the Belgium striker – who dropped a bombshell by suggesting he already wants to leave Stamford Bridge back in December – has scored just five goals in 17 league outings.

But Poyet feels the Blues’ issues in attack run deeper than Lukaku, insisting they lack creativity when Mason Mount is absent. 

‘As far as positives go, without a doubt they’re the best team in the division behind the top two, and I’m confident they’re going to get better and better in the coming years,’ he added.

‘They boast many different kinds of players, but if I’m being honest, right now, when Mason Mount isn’t at his best – or isn’t playing – Chelsea miss creativity. They’re a little more predictable when Mount’s not on his game. 

‘You know what Christian Pulisic, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Timo Werner; you know what these players are going to do, and you can prepare better for those names. 

The former Blues star feels they lack creativity when Mason Mount is not in the side

‘But Mount is the kind of player who makes special things happen. 

‘His timing, understanding, positioning, is so good, he’s hard to play against. Because of the quantity of games and the changes that Thomas Tuchel makes, he doesn’t have that option to play Mount every week, and so every time he doesn’t feature, that creativity is gone.

I’d normally expect Kai Havertz to share some of that responsibility with Mason, but because of the problems with Romelu Lukaku, Havertz is playing up-front, where we don’t really get to see him at his best.’




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