Life away from the cuckoo’s nest is really beginning to suit Chelsea. It might simply be a coincidence, but it is nonetheless conspicuous that their periods of greatest lucidity are found whenever they leave the madhouse of Stamford Bridge.
This was a blitz. A mauling. A jolly day out. We can caveat that by pointing out West Ham were flimsy and bordered on gutless, a cork lost on the open ocean, but Chelsea were excellent.
And none more so than Nicolas Jackson, whose personal journey at the club has been a strange one, but for all his inefficiencies he has scored four goals in this campaign after two good finishes here killed the game inside 20 minutes. He also got the assist for Cole Palmer at the start of the second half.
It remains to be seen how often such fluency can be replicated by Enzo Maresca’s side through the season, because you cannot always be gifted such compliant opposition. You also take nothing for granted with a club whose behaviours from boardroom to recruitment have been so peculiar.
But if there is a strand of consistency within the operation it is being shown in away matches, with this win maintaining their perfect record from league games on the road: three played, three won, 10 scored, only two conceded. If they can tighten up at home, Chelsea might even show a functional face to the world, because this was solid in all areas of the pitch.
Chelsea won 3-0 away at West Ham United in Saturday’s early game in the Premier League
Nicolas Jackson scored two goals inside the opening 18 minutes at the London Stadium
Cole Palmer then wrapped up the points by scoring Chelsea’s third goal just after half-time
Naturally, the perspective comes from what they were up against, which in this case was a series of training cones and a manager in Julen Lopetegui who spent good money in the window and has so far fallen short. An upgrade on David Moyes? He needs to prove it.
From his perspective, and indeed any other witness to his debacle, this performance was West Ham’s worst session of the season by a stretch.
Already there must be a question around the intensity of their play and, more fundamentally, the pace within elements of Lopetegui’s squad. We have seen both facets exposed in dispatches this campaign and most obviously through the early goals they have conceded in games, but never have the deficiencies meshed into the kind of incompetence shown here.
Jackson’s first strike was a good example. The initial malfunction could be traced to poor concentration when Chelsea caught West Ham snoozing with a quick free-kick in their own half, and it was compounded by a lack of urgency once Jackson swapped a one-two with Jadon Sancho and accelerated into a charge up the left.
His prime pursuer, Edson Alvarez, could have had his recovery sprint timed with a sun dial – even factoring for his recent hamstring trouble, he looked slow.
For Jackson that presented a clear run to goal, albeit at a tight angle, from where he threaded the legs of goalkeeper Alphonse Areola with his finish. Among other items that will infuriate Lopetegui from the footage was the tardiness of Aaron Wan-Bissaka in chasing back during the first phase of the attack.
Jackson pictured celebrating his second goal on Saturday by blowing a kiss to Chelsea’s fans
Striker Jackson has now scored four goals in six games across all competitions this season
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has seen his team win three straight away games in the league
It was an enjoyable day for the travelling Chelsea supporters at Stratford’s London Stadium
From there it got no better for West Ham, who a solid beat or two behind Chelsea’s tempo. Moises Caicedo, for one, was excellent in his role, as was Jackson in his habit of springing forward from deeper positions. Sancho, on his first Premier League start since May 2023, was less involved but predominantly neat and sharp in his touches.
To reiterate, all of the above were assisted by the space permitted to them, as illustrated through Jackson’s second.
As a coach known for his commitment to pressing, hyped even, Lopetegui looked disgusted by the static indifference of his midfield as Levi Colwill, Enzo Fernandez and Caicedo cut through the line of mannequins in a series of quick balls, before the latter fed Jackson for another one-on-one.
Maximilian Kilman was late in covering the run and for a second time Jackson’s finish was beyond Areola’s capabilities. West Ham were dire and crushed inside 20 minutes; Chelsea were flying.
The balance of the match tightened a little towards the close of the first half and Crysencio Summerville, reasonably impressive on his first league start, was unfortunate to be denied a penalty on review after being tugged down by Wesley Fofana. A Mohammed Kudus goal was also chalked off for offside in a less contentious decision, but the summary of their half came when Guido Rodriguez was hooked for Tomas Soucek on 38 minutes.
Returning for the second period, both sides kept to the pattern of the first. That translated to a third goal two minutes after the restart, with a break from the edge of Chelsea’s area and only a series of lukewarm West Ham challenges in efforts to prevent it. For his part Jackson was able to canter 20 yards or so without facing a tackle before nudging wide to Palmer, who finished well for his second goal of the season.
Further chances went to Noni Madueke and Christopher Nkunku and both were well saved by Areola. That salvaged a mark or two for the keeper, which is more than be said for a majority of his team-mates and the manager pulling their strings.
