Why Chelsea defensive woes are of their own making
The Blues have repeatedly failed to address chronic deficiencies prevalent for some time…
It was rumoured that Arrigo Sacchi once organized a training exercise during his time at AC Milan where he pitted his near perfect back 5 of Fillipo Galli, Mauro Tassotti, Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta and Paolo Maldini against his entire attacking quartet. The final result was that they, like many attacks around the world, could not find a way past that defense. If Spain is known for attacking and possession based football, then Italy is surely the land where defenders are honed into machines that know how to keep the opposition away from goal. Chelsea’s Antonio Conte was part of this very system. A tenacious midfielder during his playing days and a taskmaster as a manager, his teams have always relied on a solid backline to ensure that his preferred 3-5-2 or 4-2-4 systems work flawlessly. Both at Juventus and with the Italian national team, he assembled one of the most formidable backlines in modern football. Gianluigi Buffon, Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini were the foundation for club and national team success over the last 3 years.Editorial by Khel Now-Feature Columnist Srinivasan Mohan , Srinivasan Mohan is an ardent football fan from the Silicon Valley of India, Bangalore. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Engineering and an MBA in Marketing. He has been following football since 2000 and is an ardent Bayern Munich and Chelsea supporter. He has had stints with Goal.com and 90Minutes magazine. Srini as he is commonly know, is someone who loves writing on the Bundesliga and is also fascinated by Serie A. Apart from writing, he spends his time drumming, reading, and working out. You can follow him on Twitter.
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