According to Paul Scholes, Chelsea is one year away from challenging for the Premier League title as players like Kai Havertz and Mason Mount still need time to develop.
Chelsea has shown signs of improvement since last season but Scholes feels the team lacks creativity. As we all know, the title races promises are one of the closest and most exciting in years with only five points separating the top ten so far and Chelsea sitting in fifth place.
Despite the improvement signs, Chelsea fell to their second successive Premier League defeat with a stoppage-time 2-1 defeat to Wolverhampton thanks to the late Pedro Neto goal. Moreover, this has resulted in the former Manchester United man feeling Liverpool and Manchester City will still be out of Chelsea’s reach.
He said, “I just think there’s a little bit of a lack of creativity on the pitch. N’Golo Kante does what he does brilliantly well and he’s got two young players next to him in Mason Mount and Kai Havertz, who I think will be sensational players. But that’s why I don’t think they’ll win the league this year. It’s a bit early for them. They’ll be up there, close to Manchester City and Liverpool. I just don’t think they are that ready”.
“But in a year’s time with a bit of experience, know-how bit more quality they’ll be up there challenging”.
“I think Frank’s doing a brilliant job. The team got an identity everyone knows how they play and what’s expected of them. I think the problem he’s got is creativity looking at the last two games, Everton they hardly created a chance”.
“I think they’ve got the players. They are young players and will take time. Mason Mount could be a Frank Lampard. He’s got the ability to win games for Chelsea. In years to come, he will score lots of goals like Frank”.
Had Chelsea held on after Olivier Giroud’s opening goal, they would have gone level on points with Tottenham and Liverpool at the top of the table. However, goals from Daniel Podence and Neto meant they stay in fifth.
Should Tottenham or Liverpool win in their clash on Wednesday, this will mean Chelsea will be six points off the top of the table.