SOUNESS: How do you spend thick end of £1bn and still be short of a striker?

Spending a billion pounds in the transfer market and not securing a proven, goal-scoring striker is like building a beautiful, expensive house and saying: ‘Don’t let’s worry about the roof.’

This is how I see Chelsea’s current predicament. Mauricio Pochettino’s current predicament.

What we witnessed in their defeat at Middlesbrough on Tuesday night was the latest manifestation of what has been evident all season: a collection of players, some very good, some not so good, and not a single proper goalscorer at the top level.

There were signs of discontent among the fans after the Carabao Cup defeat and if Chelsea don’t make a European place at the end of the season, Mauricio’s job will be on the line.

He could have no complaints about that. It’s the price of football management now. Mauricio has given his tacit approval of the players Chelsea have brought in. But I do think it’s important to remember that he has been given the keys to a dressing room full of players who were bought by non-footballing people and asked to make a team of them.

He’s picking up the baton handed him by that self-styled football ‘guru’ Todd Boehly – who named himself Chelsea’s ‘acting director of football’ almost immediately on arrival.

Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku were clearly not the answer. But only one Chelsea player scored more than Lukaku, two seasons ago. I know they’ve spent on potential in Nicolas Jackson but if you lay out a billion, as Chelsea have, you have to sign players for today, not some time in the future.

People say, ‘You build from the back’ when putting together a team but that’s not entirely true. If you are getting goals, the confidence is continually there in the team and you can be nicking games, even if the rest of the team