Jamie Redknapp identifies two ‘important areas’ Chelsea have failed to strengthen | Football

Chelsea’s new Premier League campaign began with a 2-0 defeat at the hands of reigning champions Manchester City on Sunday, with Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovacic both getting on the scoresheet at Stamford Bridge.

The loss came as another frantic transfer window draws to a close in west London, which has seen ten new recruits added to Enzo Maresca’s already bloated squad – meaning Chelsea currently have 43 players on their books.

The likes of Conor Gallagher, Ben Chilwell, Romelu Lukaku and Armando Broja were all left out of the Blues matchday squad to face City, as well as Raheem Sterling, who has demanded ‘clarity’ over his situation for the season ahead.

It makes for a messy start to the season at the beginning of a new chapter under Maresca and questions were raised over certain areas of the side by fans and pundits in the aftermath of the defeat.

Analysing the match on Sky Sports, Redknapp said Chelsea’s seemingly disjointed starting XI, at times, looked like ‘a bunch of strangers’ thrown together for the first time.

The former Liverpool, Tottenham and England midfielder also argued that Maresca still lacked a ‘top striker’ and a ‘good goalkeeper’, with Nicolas Jackson and Robert Sanchez both failing to impress.

‘If Savinho had played for Chelsea today I think he would have found it really difficult, but he’s come into a Manchester City team that are just a well-oiled machine,’ Redknapp said shortly after City’s comfortable victory.

‘He knows what he’s got to do, he knows his job. Pep had to change it, just to make that tactical tweak, and it’s much easier to play in a team when there’s a calmness and an assurance.

‘With this Chelsea team it’s like you’re throwing a bunch of strangers together and it’s very difficult to do that.’

‘Maresca has got to go back into training tomorrow and he’s going to see so many unhappy faces,’ he continued.

‘Normally we have 11 v 11 on a Thursday, trying to get the squad playing together. You’ve got 20 players that can’t even get in the 11 v 11. How can that be right?

‘The best teams in the Premier League over the last five years work on the basis of 24 or 25 players in their squad. How and why do they think that they’re going to reinvent football and try to do this.

‘You’re making the manager’s job virtually impossible with the group of players that they’ve got.’

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