Thomas Tuchel inadvertently diagnosed why Chelsea's play was so unengaging in his post-match reflections after the slim 1-0 win over Crystal Palace.
“We told the team at halftime not to lose faith and to keep on going like in a cup game." Tuchel said to Chelsea's in-house media team.
"Maybe this one chance would come and it would be decisive. Keep on believing, don't do crazy stuff, don't take risks and allow transition for the opponent.”
"Don't take risks" probably comes to summarise why Chelsea's play can appear so passive and monotonous on a consistent basis.
The more damning stat to many after Saturday was seven touches, the number Romelu Lukaku had in the game.
His best moment, forcing Jack Butland into a save for which the rebound was put into net by Hakim Ziyech, was ruled out by VAR.
Again the Belgian remained a passenger, almost a spectator to Chelsea's overall play. After the encouragement that came from two goals in the Club World Cup, Lukaku's plight to replicate any of his best attributes in the Premier League returned.
Everything was happening around him once more and for nearly £100m, Lukaku has become the most obvious of all scapegoats.
Even Tuchel who has been quick to defend the 28-year-old appeared to pin the responsibility for Chelsea's lack of threat on his peripheral forward when asked if the system wasn't benefiting Lukaku.
"I'm not so sure if I have a good answer. I don't know what it says. It says he was obviously not involved and could not make a point today. I am not sure if it says so much about us in general."
But sadly Thomas, it very much does.
The heavily controlled, low-risk, slow possession play has been a trademark of Tuchel's Chelsea, particularly in the Premier League since his appointment last year.
Whilst that approach has made Chelsea a formidable defensive unit, rarely exposed on transition like they were so frequently under Frank Lampard, with that caution comes a heavy price in attacking expression.
Almost 12 months ago supporters were moaning that quick passes from central midfield were not being played forward to find the runs of Timo Werner, now it's Lukaku.
Even if people like to concoct the narrative Lukaku does not care and is 'lazy', he has consistently made movements behind defences but rarely ever receives the ball in a swift fashion.
Pinning down to a miscommunication feels probably simplistic at this point. When you see multiple forwards make quick runs when a teammate (usually a central midfielder) has the ball and ops for a safer six-yard pass, it becomes apparent this is by design.
Chelsea Twitter account Chicago Dimitry pointed out the highly predictable pattern of the Blues passing, posting two passing maps. One from the 2-0 win over Spurs last month, the other the win over Palace.
Both illustrate how little Chelsea progress the ball through their central midfielders, despite Jorginho being referred to as a 'metronome'.
Chelsea's play is risk-free but not highly productive.
Especially without the dynamic duo of Ben Chilwell and Reece James, the shortcomings in creativity have risen to the surface.
A risk-free approach is proving to be a complete dead-end if Tuchel hopes to turn his attack into one that can rival the output of Liverpool or Manchester City.
Lukaku can do much more but so can a system that aims to be bolder.
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