Pochettino must drop £100k-pw Chelsea star who lost the ball 19x vs Everton
Pochettino must drop £100k-pw Chelsea star who lost the ball 19x vs Everton
Chelsea’s Premier League campaign has just gone from bad to worse this season. From shocking home defeats to Nottingham Forest to humbling away defeats to an equally dysfunctional Manchester United side.
And to make things worse, club captain Reece James is now set to spend another period on the sidelines after sustaining a hamstring injury in the club’s 2-0 defeat away to Everton last week.
There were plenty of poor performers that day, but one of the worst, and one of the worst all season for that matter, must be dropped ahead of Saturday, Mykhailo Mudryk.
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Mykhailo Mudryk’s game vs Everton in numbers
Mauricio Pochettino started the Ukranian wideman out on the left ahead of Raheem Sterling, perhaps hoping that against a supposedly relegation-threatened Everton side, he could play himself into some form; whatever the thinking behind the decision was, it backfired.
The Evening Standard’s Nizaar Kinsella gave the 22-year-old a rather generous 6/10, praising his supposed threat but lamenting him for being tremendously ‘wasteful’ in possession.
In his 97 minutes of football, Mudryk lost the ball 19 times, meaning he lost the ball every five minutes, a statistic so poor that it is almost laughable – almost.
It’s a surprise that his teammates didn’t just stop passing him the ball.
The £100k-per-week speedster also failed to take a single shot, let alone one on target, only succeeded in half of his crosses and registered a paltry expected goals figure of 0.05.
There are signs that there is a talented footballer in there, but it just hasn’t worked yet this season and if Pochettino wants to give the fans something to cheer about on Saturday afternoon, Mudryk cannot play.
Raheem Sterling must start against Sheffield United
The former Manchester City star has been in relatively good form for Chelsea this season, scoring five goals and providing three assists in the 16 games he has played.
In his last home game that wasn’t disrupted by a Chelsea red card, the England international was fantastic and scored a goal against Pep Guardiloa’s treble-winning City side – reminding his old boss just how good he is.
He registered a genuinely impressive expected goals figure of 0.45 and an expected assists figure of 0.14, took two shots, completed four dribbles, made one key pass and even made a clearance for his side.
The Daily Mail’s Adrian Kajumba gave the 29-year-old an 8.5/10 for his performance and described him as ‘up for it all game.’
Premier League and Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer proclaimed the winger “incredible” after the match, and it’s hard to disagree.
Ultimately, with Chelsea in desperate need of a win this weekend, Pochettino should already have Sterling’s name down on the teamsheet and Mudryk’s firmly on the bench.