Slowly but surely Chelsea are beginning to look like a more coherent outfit under new boss Enzo Maresca.
The Blues unsurprisingly tasted defeat against champions Manchester City on the opening weekend but then rallied to dispatch Wolves 6-2 the following match. It was a thrilling performance where the likes of Noni Madueke and Cole Palmer made Gary O’Neil’s side pay.
Therefore, the 1-1 draw with an underperforming Crystal Palace was a tough setback for a team who looked like they were on the up.
Well, Chelsea responded in perfect fashion against Bournemouth on Saturday evening, battling hard to defeat the Cherries 1-0 late on.
An inspired Robert Sanchez was at the top of his game – at last – rescuing Chelsea with a penalty save and laying the platform for a late Christopher Nkunku goal.
The Frenchman began the loss to Man City but hasn’t started a league outing since due to increased competition for places in Maresca’s attack.
However, he could well be back in the side in a week’s time after some of the performances this weekend.
One of the worst players on the pitch was defender Axel Disasi.
Axel Disasi’s performance in numbers
In the grand scheme of things Maresca needed to improve a great deal about this Chelsea side but the defence was obviously a primary concern.
That was never going to be an easy task with skipper Reece James missing the early stages of the campaign but the sheer number of recruits, Tosin Adarabioyo and Renato Veiga included, did see depth improve.
Veiga was actually selected in the middle of the park against Bournemouth while there was also a different position for Disasi.
A centre-back by trade, the Frenchman was selected as a makeshift right-back with James and Malo Gusto missing. Did it go well? Not very, no.
Disasi was hauled off just after the hour mark having had a nightmare 61 minutes out of position.
The defender didn’t win a single of his duels, was dribbled past twice and conceded possession on nine occasions.
Offering very little from a defensive point of view, he never troubled Andoni Iraola’s back line either, failing to provide a single cross, failing to complete a dribble and not playing a key pass either.
On the opposite side of the pitch, Pedro Neto also struggled and could find himself one of a couple of players dropped to the bench next time out.
Pedro Neto’s performance in numbers
Due to depth, the attackers in this Chelsea squad are going to have to be at the top of their game on a consistent basis or risk being dropped immediately.
Neto is certainly one of the candidates to lose his place after what The Mirror’s Alex Richards described as a “non-existent” showing where he was withdrawn at the break. In his place on came debutant Jadon Sancho who joined on transfer deadline day before the international break.
Why was the Portuguese winger hauled off so early? Well, he was accurate with just 67% of his passes, made just one key pass and lost 100% of his dribbles.
It said it all that in the second half Sancho far outperformed his new teammate, assisting the winning goal, scored by Nkunku. Handed a 4/10 match rating by GOAL, they told the story of how Neto was “anonymous” and “barely touched the ball in the first half”.
Minutes played
45
45
Touches
23
37
Accurate passes
10/15 (67%)
24/26 (92%)
Key passes
1
2
Dribbles completed
0/1
2/4
Duels won
0/3
2/4
Possession lost
9x
7x
Neto registered an assist in that thrashing against Wolves but has arguably struggled since signing from Wolves in the summer. That said, he isn’t playing in his most effective position which is the right flank.
For now it will take some going for the young flanker to displace both Madueke and Palmer who are both preferred on the right-hand side.
Neto won’t start there next week and it won’t be unsurprising if he doesn’t start on the left either with Sancho now waiting in the wings to explode into life at Stamford Bridge following his man of the match display.
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