Owen Hargreaves said Chelsea are still missing an experienced leader after they suffered a dramatic 2-1 defeat to Sunderland at Stamford Bridge.
Enzo Maresca’s side came into Saturday’s fixture off the back of an emphatic 5-1 win over Ajax in the Champions League, and took the lead after just four minutes through Alejandro Garnacho.
The visitors, however, hit back halfway through the first half, Wilson Isidor poking home after Chelsea failed to clear a long throw-in out of their box.
Sunderland grew into the game as the match wore on, and ultimately claimed all three points in injury time when Chemsdine Talbi stroked home the winner from the edge of the box.
Victory for the Black Cats continues their superb start to the season back in the Premier League, with Regis Le Bris’ side now temporarily in second place and just two points off league leaders Arsenal.
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A busy summer transfer window has certainly paid dividends for Sunderland, with the impact of new club captain Granit Xhaka felt immediately in the first nine games.
And Hargeaves believes that the former Arsenal captain is exactly the kind of experienced player that Chelsea are dying for to help them eek out results in tight games.
‘He’s not the quickest but in the head he’s one of the quickest,’ Hargeaves said of the Swiss international. ‘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.’
Former Brighton striker Glenn Murray, meanwhile, added: ‘That’s where you need someone like Xhaka who can manage from within.
‘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.’
Speaking after the game, a disappointed Maresca said: ‘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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