In my last article, I analyzed the reasons why it is difficult for William to renew his contract from a tactical point of view. Simply put, William's role in the team is not irreplaceable. At the beginning of the season, William solved the problem of the team's promotion and helped the team win a wave of winning streak. However, after the international match day in 165438+ 10, opponents adjusted their strategies one after another, which magnified the weakness of the Blue Army's weak attack, and Chelsea's record also fluctuated.
William didn't bring much help to the team in this process, especially after the New Year, William only scored 1 and assisted 1. Before the suspension of the season, the excellent performances of Jill, Mount, Guilmault and Pedro gave the team more options to move forward. In this case, there is no need for Chelsea to make an exception and give the Brazilian a three-year contract.
Comparing the data of mertens and William, it is not difficult to find the difference of their roles on the field. Mertens's breakthrough and passing are not as good as William's, but the number of goals scored is twice that of Brazil, and this is the data obtained after missing eight games. And in Chelsea, William is not the only one who is not as efficient as mertens, and Abraham is the only one who scores in double figures. During his seven seasons in Naples, mertens scored more than double digits in each season. His joining can effectively improve the offensive efficiency of the team.
Especially in the Champions League, Martens's attack power is lacking in Chelsea. This season, mertens helped the team escape unscathed in front of Liverpool and Barcelona, which left a very deep impression on people. The rich experience of the Champions League is exactly what Chelsea need. The team has just trained a new army and has not yet competed with Liverpool and Manchester City for the Premier League title. Seeking a breakthrough in the Champions League and allowing young players to accumulate experience and self-confidence is the main task of the Blues in the league, which requires an experienced player to take charge of the team. Mertens obviously meets this requirement.
Mertens began to be the main force of the team at the age of 29, belonging to the "old demon" who was a late bloomer and needed strict self-discipline and hard training to keep fit. If such a veteran is allowed to join the team, it can set a good example for these young players in Chelsea. Excellent offensive efficiency, rich experience in the Champions League and good professionalism all meet Chelsea's current needs. So it's normal to abandon William and bring in older mertens.
Of course, many people are worried about whether Martens can keep up with the pace of the Premier League. The intensity and pace of competition in Serie A are not at the same level as those in Premier League. A 33-year-old veteran who has never played in the Premier League may not be able to come to the Premier League even if he can maintain a high offensive efficiency in Serie A. Indeed, adapting to the rhythm is a problem that almost every player who comes to the Premier League has to face. Mertens, who is small and thin, also runs the risk of losing offensive efficiency if he comes to the Premier League.
However, the prospects of Belgians are not necessarily pessimistic. The picture above shows the statistics of appearances of Martens since he joined Napoli. It can be seen that his main position is directly related to the change of his role on the field-starting from 20 16, the Belgian no longer plays the role of winger and becomes the main center of the team. You know, although the intensity and rhythm of Serie A matches are not as good as that of the Premier League, the tactics are used deeply and the space of the stadium is squeezed more fully. A center with a height of only 169 cm can show such high offensive efficiency in front of the chain defense, which is enough to show that he has high attainments in the use of court space.
Take Napoli's away game against Cagliari as an example. In the first half, Naples didn't find a good chance in the face of the opponent's dense defense. In the second half, Gattuso adjusted the attack frequency in the middle. The number of times Martens took the ball increased from 18 in the first half to 27 times, and the number of shots also increased to 4 times, which obviously improved the team's attack quality. It was also the Belgians who got rid of their opponents in the restricted area and caught the ball and shot, helping the team take away 3 points from the away game.
Mertens's ability to use space is exactly what Chelsea lack. As mentioned above, the reason why the Blue Army experienced ups and downs after the international match in June 5438+065438+ 10 was due to its insufficient offensive ability. Although Abraham has good strength, he has a high demand for space. Once he is entangled in his opponent, the whole team's attack may be dumb. It was not until Jill returned to the main lineup and gave the team a reliable fulcrum in the frontcourt that this problem was solved.
However, judging from Jill's age, it is still unknown whether he can continue to play the role of fulcrum, and there is still room for improvement in the depth of the front line. In the recent 65,438+00 games, mertens played five games as a substitute. In 1 13 minutes, he contributed 1 goals, 3 assists, 10 shots and 5 key passes to the team. The characteristics of microwave oven are very obvious. If the Belgian can join us, Lampard's adjustment plan will be more abundant.
Mertens can enhance the depth of the team lineup and enrich the offensive routines of the team. His understanding and application of the court space can also greatly help Abraham's growth. Such a player is really worth pursuing by Chelsea. However, if you can really come to the team this summer, there are still some difficulties that mertens and Lampard need to overcome together to gain a foothold in the Premier League.
The most obvious problem is Martens's age. Although the professionalism is good, 34 years old is definitely a senior in the Premier League. Although the style of the Premier League can give Martens more space, if you want to stand in the Premier League, you must stand on enough running. In particular, Chelsea's passing and controlling style needs a high level of attack to support, which is definitely a big challenge for the Belgian's physical fitness.
Moreover, the ups and downs brought by old age are hard to avoid. This season, mertens has obvious "symptoms". At the beginning of the season, Martens was the absolute main force of Napoli, and scored 6 goals in 8 games including the European preliminaries, which was quite good. However, after entering the month of 10, mertens's state declined, and all fronts fought 13 times. Only the first game against Red Bull Salzburg, he scored and assisted, so the Belgian lost his main position. Although this has something to do with the team changing coaches, the key to the problem is to maintain their own state. If you want to integrate into Lampa's tactical system as soon as possible, then Martens must adapt to the new rhythm and strive to maintain a good competitive state.
In addition, although mertens can enrich the team's tactical play, it does not mean that Lampard's pressure will be reduced. When Martens played in Belgium and Holland, he always played the role of winger. After landing in Serie A, his performance was average, and he didn't become famous until he changed to a center. So it can be predicted that he can only play the position of center in Chelsea. In other words, once mertens joins, Chelsea will have three pure centers.
This means that it is difficult for three people to appear in the big list of the same game at the same time. After all, there are only seven substitute places. Lampard can hardly bring two pure centers into the bench with one center in India. From this point of view, it may be difficult for mertens to get a stable playing time at the beginning of his joining, which is not good for his integration. Therefore, after mertens joined us, Lampard needs to be more comprehensive and rational, and play the role of Belgian as soon as possible.
According to Italian and British media reports, mertens made it clear that he would prefer to go to Chelsea, and the negotiations between the two sides are now deadlocked on the issue of treatment. If we can meet each other halfway and reach a compromise, there is a great possibility that mertens will appear at Stamford Bridge next season. The Belgian's joining can help the team, and the Premier League is also a new challenge to the old future. I hope Martens can stand on the stage of Premier League this summer and show his elegant demeanor.