Chelsea will always create chances and score goals. The reason they have not been able to sustain a title challenge is that, on the other hand, they lack experience and leadership.
Saturday night's defeat to Manchester City leaves them in sixth place – not what you would expect for a £1.3 billion spend under Todd Boehly.
I see the benefits of investing in youth and potential, but there has to be a balance.
It is no coincidence that the best teams in the league this season, Liverpool and Arsenal, both have a consistent centre-back opposite a reliable goalkeeper.
You can't compare Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Alisson or William Saliba, Gabriel and David Raya to what Chelsea had at the Etihad.
Levi Colwill is still learning at 21, Trevoh Chalobah has never had a full season as a Premier League starter and Robert Sanchez is not at the level to compete for the biggest trophies, which is where Chelsea want are.
You saw the weaknesses against City. They couldn't cope with Erling Haaland playing on the high line and with the time and space Ilkay Gundogan had to make his passes, it was inevitable that the champion would score.
Sánchez has good qualities as a goalkeeper, but he is not the man who can strengthen your backline.
Chelsea won't have any problems in the final third this season, but they won't keep enough clean sheets to compete at the top.
You see the leadership of Van Dijk, who guides teammates through games when necessary, you see it when Jarrell Quansah plays. At Arsenal, Saliba is wonderfully calm and collected, but he looks at his best when he has Gabriel's physicality and know-how alongside him.
It's about partnerships, about the right mix. After Alan Hansen famously claimed that Manchester United wouldn't win anything with children, he was verbally abused when United won the league.
But the Class of '92 has acknowledged that there is no way they would have been champions so early in their careers without the help of Peter Schmeichel, Dennis Irwin, Gary Pallister and Eric Cantona.
Chelsea's spending was revolutionary, but their next major signing would be a defender with both wisdom and athleticism.
I understand why they are interested in Alejandro Garnacho because of the Mykhailo Mudrykh situation, but if they want to finish in the top four, they need a leader at the back.
I know from my own career how important it is to have someone on the field who can help guide the team in difficult moments in matches.
At Liverpool I owed a lot to players like Gary McAllister and Didi Hamann. Later I played that role at Fulham with Aaron Hughes and Damien Duff.
Chelsea is exciting and vibrant. But to realize their ambitions, they will not be able to achieve this with the youth alone. When City had to battle it out yesterday, they had John Stones and Manuel Akanji to help them.
Chelsea must find the equivalent to avoid their season becoming flattering and misleading.
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