Owen Hargreaves highlighted that Chelsea are still lacking an experienced leader following their unexpected 2-1 loss to Sunderland at Stamford Bridge. The defeat came after Enzo Maresca’s team had secured a convincing 5-1 victory over Ajax in the Champions League, and they took an early lead within the first four minutes through Alejandro Garnacho.
However, the visitors quickly turned the game around. Sunderland equalized in the first half when Wilson Isidor scored after Chelsea failed to clear a long throw-in from their own box. As the match progressed, Sunderland gained momentum and eventually won in injury time with Chemsdine Talbi scoring from the edge of the box.
This win marks a strong start for Sunderland in the Premier League, as Regis Le Bris’ team now sits temporarily in second place, just two points behind league leaders Arsenal.
The summer transfer window has proven beneficial for Sunderland, with new club captain Granit Xhaka making an immediate impact in the first nine games. Hargreaves believes that Xhaka is exactly the kind of player Chelsea need to help them secure results in tight matches.
‘He’s not the quickest but in the head he’s one of the quickest,’ Hargreaves said. ‘The passes he played were exceptional and he’s always in the right position. Chelsea need a Xhaka type in there. If they did they would not have lost that game today. We’ve said it about experienced players but you need guys in there to say, “we’re not going to lose this game today”. To lose 2-1 is a real sucker-punch at Stamford Bridge.’
Glenn Murray, former Brighton striker, also commented on the importance of having a player like Xhaka on the field. He noted that while managers can provide guidance from the sidelines, the actual game often goes beyond their control.
‘You can dictate from the sideline as much as you want but once the game is going it’s out of your control to a certain extent whereas Xhaka is managing on the field for Le Bris. He’s the standout player. He’s the one who orchestrates it all and especially at Stamford Bridge when you go one-nil down after three minutes, he just got his foot on the ball, recycled it a few times to just take that pressure off them. Often a newly-promoted team will just keep going as they are and you can get done three, four five (nil) but just that experience to understand what is happening in that moment of the game. Some of his touches were absolutely sublime.’
After the game, Maresca expressed his disappointment, stating that his team was not good enough.
‘I think in general we were not good enough. When you are not good enough in the Premier League, we know that the consequence can be the bad one. The second goal we conceded, I said already many times, when you are not able to win, it’s important that you don’t lose. But even with that, it’s not a transition because a transition when you are open or it’s 1v1, it’s just one long ball in behind. We are 2v1 with the two central defenders and we didn’t defend properly. The first goal came from a throw. Again, it’s difficult to deal because they bring six, seven, eight players inside the box, so it’s difficult. But overall, I think we were not good enough.’
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