Joe Cole identifies Chelsea weakness that Arsenal could expose | Football

Joe Cole says he hopes Chelsea have ‘addressed’ their frailties at defending dead-ball situations ahead of their clash with ‘set-piece kings’ Arsenal this weekend.

After a run of five straight wins in all competitions, Chelsea have stuttered in their fight for a top-five place, dropping points in both of their last two Premier League matches against teams battling for survival.

Rosenior’s men appeared to be cruising at home to Leeds as goals from Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer gave them a healthy cushion at the halfway stage at Stamford Bridge.

But the visitors fought back and salvaged a draw as Lukas Nmecha and Noah Okafor struck in a frantic second-half period to put a dent in Chelsea’s hopes of Champions League qualification.

And there was a feeling of deja vu last weekend as Joao Pedro once again put the Blues in front with an early goal, only for Zian Flemming to head home a late James Ward-Prowse corner following Wesley Fofana’s sending off.

It means the west London giants find themselves languishing down in sixth place ahead of today’s high-stakes derby, three points behind both Manchester United and Liverpool in the table.

But the Club World Cup holders know they can get their season back on track – while damaging Arsenal’s title ambitions in the process – with a resurgent performance at the Emirates this afternoon.

After the slip-up against Burnley, Rosenior received his fair share of criticism for sending on four defenders in the closing stages, rather than looking to increase the deficit.

However, on Rosenior’s tactics, ex-Chelsea winger Cole told Paddy Power: ‘I can understand why Liam would bring on defenders, they’d already had [Wesley] Fofana sent off.

‘Ultimately, as a manager if you win the game you’re right, if you don’t you’re wrong.

‘The goal was a bit of quality from Burnley but I think Liam will admit, and the players will admit, the performance was short of what was necessary for where Chelsea want to go.

The last ten minutes and how they conceded was almost by-the-by because you need to be able to put Burnley away at home.

‘They didn’t defend the set-pieces well for most of the game and that’s something that will need to be addressed [before Arsenal].

‘When you’re making that many subs, the organisation has to be spot-on. The lads coming on have to be ready.’

According to Cole, the players have to take a certain amount of ‘responsibility’ for what went wrong after twice throwing away leads in their last two contests.

‘It’s not just the set-piece coach or the coaching in general, the players have to take responsibility as well because with that many changes, you have to sort it out yourselves on the pitch,’ he added.

‘You can’t just stop and look over to the bench.

‘It’s about maturity and responsibility and that’s what cost Chelsea the game against Burnley.’

Cole says Chelsea can ill afford to put development ahead of winning matches if they are serious about lifting major silverware under Rosenior in the near future.

‘When it comes to clubs like Chelsea, which are going for the big honours, you can’t be thinking of blocking progress, because that means you’re putting development above wins,’ the former England international added.

‘Without being disrespectful to teams like Bournemouth and Brighton – who develop players and sell players – Chelsea are the team that buys players from these clubs.

‘Chelsea are going to go and try to win trophies.’

It has proven an immensely tough debut season for Liam Delap at Chelsea, with the striker managing just one solitary goal in the Premier League following his £30million arrival from Ipswich.

But Cole is confident that Delap ‘will only improve over time’ if he continues putting in the hard yards with his ‘fantastic attitude’ both on and off the pitch.

‘Liam just has to keep improving,’ the three-time Premier League winner explained.

‘He’s a good player that first of all needs to outperform anyone else that could play in the number nine, like Joao Pedro. Then you can start comparing him to the other number nines around the league: Viktor Gyokeres, Benjamin Sesko, [Hugo] Ekitike and [Alexander] Isak.

‘You can’t even think about comparing him to Erling Haaland at the moment, but it’s step-by-step.

‘When you sign for a club like Chelsea, being “developed” has gone out the window. You’ve got to deliver and step up.

‘I do think he can get better and he’s got a fantastic attitude, so that tells me he will only improve over time.’

Off the pitch, there has been mounting speculation surrounding the future of star man Cole Palmer, who has been heavily linked with a move to Manchester United – the team he has supported since childhood.

‘It wouldn’t be a smart move from a football standpoint,’ Cole said, addressing the recent rumours.

‘Maybe it’s a smart move from a business standpoint.

‘I suppose business always has to take precedence over football, because obviously if you don’t have a business, you don’t have a football club.

‘We’ve seen teams go into administration recently so I’m trying to think logically, you have to marry the two.

‘I can’t in any world view think that selling Cole Palmer sends out the right message. Unless the lad is pushing for a move, which I don’t think he is, you have to keep him.’

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