Antonio Conte’s first season in English football in charge of Chelsea has started in decent fashion.
His side have won five of their first eight Premier League matches and, although they endured a tricky spell with defeats against Liverpool and Arsenal, Conte’s side have bounced back with two solid wins over Hull City and Leicester City.
No European commitments should seriously help Chelsea as they bid to regain the Premier League title from Leicester, and they’ve started the season well as they attempt to do just that.
Nevertheless, there are still some concerns that this Chelsea team isn’t quite where it needs to be to challenge Manchester City and co for the title, with the defence a particular worry.
Thus, there may be some players that are playing on reputation as opposed to warranting a place in the team, so here are THREE overrated Chelsea players…
David Luiz
Photo: Mark Leech
If David Luiz was brought back to Chelsea in the summer to reinforce the defence, then it’s a transfer fraught with danger.
The Brazilian international has shown in the past that he is not disciplined enough to play at the back, although a role in front of the back four could be the way to go.
Chelsea got a great deal selling him to Paris Saint-Germain for £50 million, and an even better deal getting him back for £34 million, but can he really be trusted to be part of a solid and dependable Chelsea defence? Probably not.
He may do well in a back three, such is the protection in front of him, but the transfer strikes more of a panic buy than one Conte really wanted.
Gary Cahill
Photo: Marc Atkins / Offside.
Many will say that Gary Cahill has had a couple of bad games and that it’s harsh to be overly critical of him, but he’s not been at his best for a while now.
He was very fortunate to retain his place ahead of Chris Smalling at the heart of the England defence in the recent qualifiers against Malta and Slovenia, and didn’t do enough in those games to suggest that he’s back in form.
He looked shaky every time Slovenia broke, and didn’t deal with the aerial threat well enough – his recent form may be a sign of things to come.
Pedro
Photo: Marc Atkins / Offside.
Pedro was another player that came to the Premier League with a lot of expectation following a decent spell at Barcelona, yet he couldn’t help inspire a struggling Chelsea team last season.
He started his career in England well by netting against West Brom, but there were too many inconsistent displays from the Spanish international, who many hoped would inspire the Blues team to a solid defence of the Premier League title.
With the wealth of attacking options available at Stamford Bridge, and the change of system, Pedro might find his opportunities limited this season and, for a player who scored 87 goals at Barcelona and cost £21 million, that will likely frustrate many Chelsea fans.