Tiemoue Bakayoko and Cesc Fabregas played in central midfield for Chelsea today, and once again it didn’t look like a well suited combination.
In part it was a result of having David Luiz in the midfield three, and the centre back’s lack of knowledge in that position meant that he was often either sitting too deep or pushing too far ahead of his colleagues.
This meant Bakayoko and Fabregas were often exposed, and they totally surrendered control of the game to the Italian opposition in the middle.
Bakayoko was consistently beaten to the ball, and didn’t use his physical abilities at all.
Fabregas had two more defensive midfielders behind him but was still unable to get into the game at all. He dropped so deep and didn’t play any of the incisive balls he’s known for.
It seems that without the energy of N’Golo Kante in the side to close teams down, the Blues midfield has forgotten how to play football at all.
