Poyet singles out three Chelsea players which give them big ‘creativity’ problem

Chelsea have a massive creativity problem – and it's all down to three of their forwards being too predictable.

That's the view of Chelsea great Gus Poyet, who believes his old club is struggling to put together a title challenge because they are too reliant on main man Mason Mount.

Poyet reckons England star Mount is the one who makes Thomas Tuchel's team tick, giving them the vision their other forwards lack.

But when Mount isn't the team, Poyet claims the likes of Timo Werner, Christian Pulisic and Callum Hudson-Odoi are too easy to stop.

Poyet said: "They boast many different kinds of players, but if I'm being honest, right now, when Mason Mount isn't at his best – or isn't playing – Chelsea miss creativity.

"They're a little more predictable when Mount's not on his game. Pulisic, Hudson-Odoi and Tim Werner – you know what these players are going to do, and you can prepare better for those names.

"But Mount is the kind of player who makes special things happen. His timing, understanding, positioning, is so good, he's hard to play against.

"Because of the quantity of games and the changes that Thomas Tuchel makes, he doesn't have that option to play Mount every week, and so every time he doesn't feature, that creativity is gone."

Mount's importance to Chelsea is shown in his stats.

No-one at the club has scored more goals (7), made more assists (6) or taken more shots (43) than him in the Premier League this season.

Mount has also created six big chances for team-mates in the league this season – more than any other Chelsea forward – despite only starting 17 times.

Poyet, who won three major trophies with the Stamford Bridge club as a player, also claims Chelsea's reliance on Mount has been made worse by Romelu Lukaku's struggles in front of goal.

How do Chelsea fix their attacking problems? Join the debate in the comments section.

Speaking exclusively to Ladbrokes at the launch of its 5-A-Side bet on Chelsea v Newcastle, Poyet said: "I'd normally expect Kai Havertz to share some of that responsibility with Mason.

"But because of the problems with Romelu Lukaku, Havertz is playing up front, where we don't really get to see him at his best.

"My opinion on Chelsea hasn't changed. I thought at the beginning of the season that they needed to be title contenders.

"When you are the Champions League winners, and you then go and sign a striker for £90m, that means you need to challenge for the title – it's really simple.

"We can't make excuses; we can't blame COVID, injuries or anything… Chelsea needed to be title contenders this year – that's the bottom line.

"It's because of Chelsea; they cannot blame anyone. Look, they haven't lost too many games, but their issue has been too many draws, and that's why they're so far behind Manchester City and Liverpool."

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