The Potential Repercussions of Chelsea’s Failure To Sign Robinho

As I sit here writing this at just gone 7pm UK time, I am tense. It is transfer deadline day, and I am frantically refreshing sports news websites for updates on any potential moves.

Having been to the Bridge to see Chelsea draw 1-1 with Tottenham Hotspur, I have come to the conclusion that Chelsea need to tie up a deal for Robinho today.

I am playing devil's advocate here, but assuming the deal isn’t completed, I think Chelsea could be faced with some problems they will have to deal with if they want to take the league title back to Stamford Bridge.

Faced with a wall of players, we lacked ideas. It was a far cry from the demolition of Portsmouth, but the performance wasn’t as bad as at Wigan, when we managed two shots on target (one being Deco’s goal).

It would be easy to just complain about Tottenham’s stifling tactics, but the Big Four have come to expect as much when they play teams lower down in the league table. Tottenham had every right to sit back and protect their situation, it was up to Chelsea to break them down.

Nicolas Anelka looked isolated and lost up front on his own. Whilst he was not as bad as the times he was employed as a winger, I think he needs a partner up front to help him out. The Frenchman has a tendency to drop out wide and deep, leaving no one up front for the midfielders and wingers to play the ball to.

The return to fitness of Didier Drogba, should solve this problem. He is perfectly suited to playing up top on his own, meaning that if Anelka does drop deep to receive the ball, there will be someone there to distribute it to.

The sale of Shaun Wright-Phillips to Manchester City last week seemed to suggest that a deal for Robinho was close to completion. But if the deal is not completed then Chelsea will be a tad short of quality wingers.

Joe Cole is the best winger at the club, but his form can often nose dive and he has been frankly shocking in Chelsea’s last two games.

Salomon Kalou is far from the finished article. As I’ve written on B/R before, he needs to work on his finishing and positioning. His painfully bad finish against Tottenham yesterday shows that his finishing can be very erratic.

Failing to get Robinho would not be a total disaster, but Chelsea could have trouble breaking down resolute and defensive sides if yesterday’s performance is anything to go by. The Blues would have to rely on Didier Drogba keeping fit for most of the season, and given his recent problems with his knee, that looks unlikely.

Improvement is needed across the board if Chelsea want to wrestle the Premier League from the hands of Manchester United. Robinho would help this, and who knows, Chelsea might have a potential ace up their sleeve.

We’ll only have to wait a few hours to find out.