There’s no escaping it; the 2023/24 Premier League season has been another bleak one for Chelsea Football Club.
Mauricio Pochettino has been unable to create a coherent team out of the plethora of talented youngsters at his disposal and has already overseen numerous embarrassing defeats in just his first campaign in the hot seat.
One of the worst results was the 2-1 loss away to Manchester United last year, a game that could easily have ended with the hosts four or five up.
The Blues have the chance to get some revenge tonight, although, based on the performance against Burnley over the weekend, Pochettino should drop Conor Gallagher and make a couple of changes to the lineup.
Conor Gallagher’s performance vs Burnley
Now, in defence of the Englishman, the result against the Clarets on Saturday afternoon was an utter shambles and practically every player in Blue, bar perhaps Cole Palmer and possibly Mykhaylo Mudryk must shoulder some responsibility for the dropped points.
However, Gallagher was the captain and the team’s number ten, so while he wasn’t the only terrible performer, he was undoubtedly the most disappointing, relative to what was expected of him.
Football.london’s Bobby Vincent echoes this thought process in his post-match player ratings, in which he awarded the Epsom-born ace a 5/10 for his showing and wrote that he was ‘too quiet’ and unable ‘to get involved anywhere near as much as he would have liked.’
It wasn’t just a lack of attacking threat that was an issue, either. In his 62 minutes on the pitch, the boyhood Blues fan lost six of his seven duels and committed three fouls.
Conor Gallagher’s game vs Burnley in numbers |
|
---|---|
Minutes |
62′ |
Goals |
0 |
Assists |
0 |
Expected Goals |
0.16 |
Expected Assists |
0.18 |
Touches |
41 |
Successful Dribbles |
1 |
Duels (Won) |
7 (1) |
Possession Lost |
5 |
Fouls |
3 |
All Stats via Sofascore |
In all, while the tenacious midfielder is still “the heart” of the team, as talent scout Jacek Kulig described him, his dreadful performance on Saturday means he should be dropped for tonight’s game. This should allow Pochettino to be more bold in his team selection.
Who Pochettino should star instead
So, with the stand-in captain on the bench, who should Pochettino bring into the team? Raheem Sterling.
Now, the first thing to say is no, the Argentine should not just start the former Manchester City ace in the number ten role vacated by Gallagher. Instead, he should start Sterling out on the left and bring Mudryk into the middle of the park, where he had some joy against Leeds United and Leicester City in the FA Cup – racking up an assist against the former.
It’s true that both of these games were against Championship opponents, but that doesn’t diminish the fact that the Ukrainian looked dangerous in the middle, and in both of those games, he had Sterling to his left.
Likewise, while the 82-capped Englishman’s recent struggles can be ignored, he has still racked up eight goals and 11 assists in 37 games for the Pensioners this season, demonstrating that even when things aren’t going his way, he can still be a productive member of the team.
Moreover, while his shooting boots weren’t on, the 29-year-old “monster”, as Kulig described him, was a far more dangerous threat in his 17 minutes of action against Burnley, registering an expected goals figure of 0.57, an expected assists figure of 0.24, an actual assist, having a shot on target, off target, and blocked, as well as making one key pass.
Sterling’s game vs Burnley in numbers |
Mudryk‘s game vs Burnley in numbers |
||
---|---|---|---|
Minutes |
17′ |
Minutes |
05′ |
Assists |
1 |
Expected Goals |
0.38 |
Expected Goals |
0.57 |
Expected Assists |
0.32 |
Expected Assists |
0.24 |
Touches |
74 |
Shots on Target |
1 |
Key Passes |
4 |
Shots off Target |
1 |
Long Balls (Accurate) |
1 (1) |
Shots Blocked |
1 |
Big Chances Created |
1 |
Big Chances Created |
1 |
Shots on Target |
1 |
Key Passes |
1 |
Shots off Target |
2 |
Accurate Passes |
13/13 (100%) |
Shots Blocked |
1 |
Touches |
18 |
Duels (Won) |
14 (10) |
Possession Lost |
2 |
Penalties Won |
1 |
All Stats via Sofascore |
All Stats via Sofascore |
For his part, the former Shakhtar Donetsk ace registered an expected goals figure of 0.38 and an expected assists figure of 0.32. He took 74 touches, played four key passes, created one big chance, took one shot on target and two off target, was successful in six of eight attempted dribbles, and won a penalty.
Related
Chelsea “monitoring” an “incredible” Poch upgrade who could be Jose 2.0
There are more than a few similarities between the highly sought-after manager and the ‘Special One.’
Ultimately, while it would be a bold decision from Pochettino, he should start Mudryk in the middle and Sterling on the left if he wants revenge on Manchester United.