Chelsea’s draw with Roma shows their problems may culminate at the back, but have their roots elsewhere

Chelsea's 3-3 draw with Roma laid bare the problems Antonio Conte must immediately address if his team are to replicate their assured performances from last season

Antonio Conte has a lot of work to do (Getty)

As Edin Dzeko’s stunning volley hauled Roma back into the game, levelling the scores at 2-2, you cast a look around the Chelsea team to see how they were taking the news.

Andreas Christensen was staring at his boots. Thibaut Courtois was still looking shell-shocked. Cesc Fabregas aimed a few half-hearted claps at nobody in particular. Perhaps it was little surprise when Dzeko put Roma 3-2 up just six minutes later, with Christensen and Gary Cahill on the floor in a heap.

Eden Hazard’s header saved Chelsea a point and maybe a few blushes, but again Chelsea’s lack of resolve was exposed here. And although it is tempting to place the blame on a defence that has now conceded five goals in four days, it would be wrong solely to point the finger at the indifferent form of Cesar Azpilicueta, or the inexperienced noodlings of Christensen.

Chelsea’s problems may culminate at the back, but they have their roots elsewhere.

More generally, during its most listless moments, you can almost sense a lack of purpose in this side, the lack of a clear identity, a unifying plan, a basic idea of how this team want to play football. Conte’s questionable switch from 3-5-2 to 3-4-3 just before the hour, replacing David Luiz with Pedro, was symbolic of this. If it was an attempt to kill the game, it failed miserably. Within 13 minutes of the change, Chelsea had gone from 2-1 up to 3-2 down.

Partly, of course, this listlessness has been forced upon them. Injuries and departures have prevented Conte from simply picking up where they left off with last season’s blueprint. Alvaro Morata may have replaced Diego Costa’s goals, but Chelsea still lack Costa’s snap in the final third, especially without the ball. As Roma exposed so adeptly, Chelsea have become a much less effective pressing unit this season, allowing teams more quality possession against them.

And where N’Golo Kante’s tireless covering would once have plugged the necessary gaps, his injury has left Cesc Fabregas and Tiemoue Bakayoko as the midfield pairing, a partnership that is still some way from the finished article.

Both of Roma’s first two goals resulted from insufficient pressure on the ball in the middle third. This is a phrase that feels as weird to type as it must look on your screen, but Danny Drinkwater’s return from injury cannot come soon enough.

Conte will continue to grumble about the lack of depth in the squad, and although he clearly has a point, you struggle to grasp the benefit in banging on about it. Instead, it has created a worrying distraction after the laser-like focus of last season, as well as giving his title-winning squad a ready-made excuse for underperformance.

All teams occasionally get injuries. All teams occasionally miss out on their favoured summer targets. Most of the other 91 managers in the Football League could tell Conte that coaching is in large part about making do with the players at your disposal. And here, perhaps is the point: not that Chelsea need new players, but that the players they have should be doing a lot, lot better than this.