It’s half time in Chelsea’s home game against Zenit St Petersburg, and the score remains 0-0.
That’s not too surprising, given neither side has produced many chances, or even much dangerous attacking play.
Zenit are happy to defend and play on the counter, while Chelsea are looking sloppy in possession and lacking a cutting edge.
Romelu Lukaku is working hard to get on the end of things, but the team are trying to play between the lines without much success a lot of the time.
On social media, frustrated Blues fans had their own takes on why things weren’t working out. “Poor half” moaned one, and they were spot on. There’s still 45 minutes to turn things around however – Thomas Tuchel was ruthless at the weekend against Aston Villa, and we expect to see the same thing again tonight after the break.
You can see a selection of the reaction in the Tweets embedded here:
Frustrating. Game is there for the taking, clearly. Mount has been involved a lot but final ball is off. Whereas Ziyech just not involved much and we need to get Lukaku the ball more. So I’d have subs ready but not make them just yet.
— Alex Goldberg (@AlexGoldberg_) September 14, 2021
Tuchel was rutheless with Saul at the weekend. Hopefully we see that some ruthlessness with a couple players at HT now. You play poorly then take a seat and better luck next time, simple. We have plenty of quality on the bench.
— Dan (@cozierpanda) September 14, 2021
https://twitter.com/tocfcws/status/1437867163549843458
Werner and Havertz for Mount and Ziyech at the break please.
Chilwell for Alonso also a shout.
— TweetChelseaUK (@TweetChelseaUK) September 14, 2021
A poor half, but we aren't losing which is the main thing.
Surely the second half can't be as bad for us as the first, so hopefully we get it sorted ASAP and the goal comes.
— TweetChelseaUK (@TweetChelseaUK) September 14, 2021
Chelsea seem torn between trying to play between the lines, and overlapping the full backs to cross. To be expected when a team makes the change from Havertz to Lukaku up front, I suppose,
— Will Faulks (@willfaulks) September 14, 2021
Mateo Kovacic best player on the pitch that half for me.
— TweetChelseaUK (@TweetChelseaUK) September 14, 2021
Usually when Chelsea are bad, he remains good but Mount out of sorts.
Same for the 10s, wing-backs and midfielders. Credit has to go to Zenit for stifling service to Lukaku rather than man marking him. #CFC #UCL
— Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) September 14, 2021
appreciate Zenit giving us a chance to practice breaking down deep-lying, compact defenses, which we clearly need
— Dávid Pásztor (@D_Peezy) September 14, 2021
It’s hard for our cams to do much, not getting played to quickly enough at times
Not enough line breaking runs to give them options
They’re getting out manned, having to roam a lot to find positions, once they do, forced to play low probability balls
— NiiNiiFC-BlueLionsTV (@NiiNiiFC) September 14, 2021
I just don't think a player who gives you 0 to 2 magical moments per game and absolutely nought outside of that can fundamentally work on this team. Not a question of form or confidence either, that just raises the magic number from 0 to 2, doesn't help the rest
— Dmitry (@ChicagoDmitry) September 14, 2021
