Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, a former Chelsea striker, says their current form is due to “complacency” rather than being “off the boil.”
Chelsea went undefeated to begin the 2021/22 season before losing successive games to Manchester City and Juventus in September.
They recovered from these defeats, but in all competitions, they have only won two of their last five games.
The Blues have dropped points to Manchester United and West Ham in recent weeks.
Chelsea bounced back at Stamford Bridge over the weekend, scoring a late winner over Leeds United. On Wednesday night, Thomas Tuchel’s side will face Everton, who are managed by Rafael Benitez.
In the Premier League, the Londoners have climbed to third position. They have a game in hand on Manchester City, but they trail the leaders by five points.
Chelsea, according to Hasselbaink, are not “going off the boil “We’re talking about them having a blip, but actually, they have been doing so well, absolutely magnificently, that people are looking at them conceding a few goals and a few things going against them like the West Ham game, and thinking there is something wrong. It does happen.”
“Yes, they have conceded a few more goals than normal, and it might be that certain individuals might not be as focused as they were because it was getting a little too easy – so they might have to reset themselves on that front to put that right.
“It’s not so much coming off the boil as it is complacency.” Not putting in 100%, but putting in 90% – and 10% is a lot in the Premier League. So, in the West Ham game, they were winning and cruising; generally, they don’t look back, and the opposition doesn’t respond. As a result, some level of complacency must exist.”
Romelu Lukaku’s first game of the 2021/22 season was also discussed by Hasselbaink:
“The price tag makes everybody think there is no room for error, and no room for failure. I’m telling you now, whatever you pay for a striker, if it is £200m, he is going to fail in certain matches. He is going to miss chances. He will have a period where he is not feeling the best or playing the best.
“Look at Harry Kane. For whatever reason, he is not having the best season. Would you want him in your team? Every day of the week. You know what he can do, and it’s the same with Lukaku. The reason I’m saying that is that he has done that everywhere he has been throughout his career, so why would he not for Chelsea, too?”
