Blink, and just for a moment, N’Golo Kante was back at Chelsea. Here was the archetype of an all-action midfielder; everything, everywhere, all at once. Blink and you’ve not just missed him, but he’s nicked the ball and is 30 yards up the pitch.
Stealing possession back 11 times, making five tackles and 15 passes into the final third, earning four fouls and even taking two ill-advised potshots, Moises Caicedo looked reminiscent of the £100m player he is against Aston Villa.
In fact, in a team that would pay anything for some reliability and responsibility, he looked temporarily priceless.
Whether helped by Enzo Fernandez’s absence or the simple culmination of a season’s improvement, something clicked for Caicedo at Villa Park. He is unlikely to ever escape his price tag, but a disastrous start led to criticism so stark that his recent development has been somewhat underappreciated.
In a double pivot with Conor Gallagher, there were glimpses of a sustainable future midfield for Mauricio Pochettino’s side. Gallagher, who set up Chelsea’s first before curling in a second with his weak foot from range, also reminded the club of his quality and value in an equally peripatetic performance.
Yes, Chelsea were still vulnerable in transition, and yes, they still conceded twice to an exhausted Villa team, but in a season which has provided constant questions, there were the makings of some answers here.
Gallagher is still heavily linked with a summer move, which remains insane regardless of the PSR mess Chelsea have got themselves into. As both their captain and spiritual leader, against Villa it was impossible to miss the Cobham kid’s significance both mentally and physically.
It’s footballing wisdom as old as the game that every team needs a spine. Between Gallagher, Caicedo and Cole Palmer, Chelsea may at least have found some functioning vertebrae, despite the mess of shattered bone and nerve tissue behind them.
Alongside a reborn Benoit Badiashile – the horrors of the Arsenal defeat appeared to have some cleansing, or purging, effect – Thiago Silva was unharmed but still shaky.
Villa clearly targeted him through Ollie Watkins, who once found 40 yards of open field having skipped past the 39-year-old. He says he remains unsure of his next steps, but it’s time to go Thiago.
Another player in dire need of an ejection plan is Mykhailo Mudryk. As has been and will be said a million times, he’s undoubtedly talented, but he’s so raw you can feel like you’ve contracted E. coli just watching him.
Mudryk might eventually be a perfectly good footballer, but it won’t be at Chelsea. On a night loanee Omari Hutchinson scored two exceptional goals for Ipswich, you could see the path Mudryk should be taking, but his price tag simply wouldn’t allow it.
Admitting a £62m player needs a loan spell lower down the table, or even in the Championship, would dent too many important people’s pride to ever be feasible.
Yet one shot Mudryk took, from a mirror-image position to Hutchinson’s extraordinary brace, came inches from going for a throw-in. His decision-making is worse than random and defensive play shows hard work really isn’t everything. Being fast makes you a sprinter, not a footballer.
Ending this twisted experiment would allow Chelsea to sign the elite left-winger they desperately need and Mudryk to build the career he is worth.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/UCjQueE
Post a Comment