Barkley up and running: Five things learned as Chelsea beat blunt Southampton

In a fairly routine afternoon of football, Chelsea beat Southampton 0-3.

The win continue Chelsea’s unbeaten start to the season and sees them move top of the Premier League table with 20 points. What did we learn?

1. Ross Barkley up and running

Ross Barkley has always presented a strange case in terms of being an elite footballer. His talent is unquestionable but his attitude and fitness seem to have been a mile off the pace in the last few years and it looked like it was going to derail his career.

But Barkley has rebounded under Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea, slowly but surely playing his way into some kind of form. Today against Southampton was a glorious example of just how far the England international has developed.

Barkley displayed a sensational understanding of what is required from him in Sarri’s system. His assist for the first goal saw him step up to press Pierre-Emil Hojbjerg, where he followed-through with great skill and determination to take the ball off him. He quickly gathered himself and fed the ball through to Eden Hazard who finished it off.

As if the assist wasn’t impressive enough (and it really showcased the full range of Barkley’s skills and just how dangerous he can be in Barkley’s system) the Englishman capped the afternoon off with a well-timed finish to make it 0-2 and seal the victory.

2. Southampton so blunt

Southampton lost 0-2 to Chelsea, but they absolutely shouldn’t have. Obviously the Blues were the superior side and deserved to win the game, but Southampton had the chances to score at least two goals, if not more.

Saints have had issues with converting their chances ever since Graziano Pellé left the club (yeah, that long). Their overall build-up play is slick and focused, they use width well, but when things get into the final third and it comes time to pull the trigger, they freeze.

Alright sometimes they don’t freeze and are forced to stomach excellent goalkeeping, as Nathan Redmond was when Kepa palmed his rocket shot onto the bar. But for the most part they are hesistant, like Danny Ings was on the many occasions when he got put through.

3. Sublime set-piece play

With the hour mark approaching, Chelsea’s 0-1 lead wasn’t looking as solid as Maurizio Sarri would have hoped. They did well to take the lead but Saints had made a good change at the half, bringing on Oriol Romeu to stabilise their midfield.

With the Catalan on the field, Saints had worked their way back into the game and Chelsea looked like they could concede. Then the Blues got a set-piece about 35 yards out in a very central position. What happened next essentially decided the game.

Olivier Giroud set it off by making a great run around the back of the pack of “big lads” who were the obvious target for Willian’s free-kick. Willian then pinged a delightful ball over the top of said big lads straight to Giroud who acrobatically scissor-kicked the ball across goal.

Whether Giroud was trying to score or not is irrelevant, because what ended up happening was the ball fizzed across goal straight to Ross Barkley and the England international tucked it home to make it 0-2 and end Southampton’s comeback.

4. Unhappy at home

Usually teams that are struggling have the consistency of at least performing reasonably well at home. They may not win all the games but they play with a sense of purpose and verve. Southampton, however, are neither good nor productive at home.

Since the start of 2017, Southampton have played 32 Premier League games at home and won just six. Six. Since the start of 2018 they’ve won just once in 12 attempts. These are absolutely abysmal figures and when teams can stroll into your back yard and slap you around with such consistent and casual indifference, then what hope do you honestly have?

5. Morata’s momentum

Whisper it quietly, but Alvaro Morata is in a bit of form! Alright it’s just two goals in two games and frankly it should be something more like five goals in two games given the amount of gilt-edged chances that he’s somehow managed to miss.

But the fact that Morata has managed to bag goals in consecutive games (the last time he did so before today was the first day of April) is most certainly significant. This is a player whose goalscoring potency is built on momentum and now he has it.

Sure, they’ve not been perfect performances and Olivier Giroud is still probably the best choice in terms of starting striker right now; but if Morata continues to score at a consistent rate then he will begin to put serious pressure onto Giroud for a starting spot. And in time, if he’s scoring, you couldn’t argue with him becoming the starter.

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