Chelsea bagged their second win of the season against Swiss Cup Champions, Servette, in their opening match in the UEFA Conference League. In this game, Maresca played Mudryk in the left-wing position, handing the Ukrainian his first start of the season.
However, according to the Mirror, Maresca was left frustrated with Mudryk’s performance. Despite showing a skills and his strong dribbling ability, there was no end product. There was a moment where Marc Guiu and Mudryk linked up, and a goalscoring opportunity came to Mudryk, but he missed the opportunity. Maresca got furious with him because his decision-making in the final third was poor. After the game, a reporter asked Maresca about Mudryk’s performance, and he said that the Ukrainian winger has some problems with his decision-making abilities and should try to improve them.
Chelsea vs Servette: Match Details
Chelsea started the game slowly, as Servette dominated the Blues with their ball possession. In the first half, Servette could have scored at least 2 goals, but the new Chelsea goalkeeper, Filip Jorgensen, kept Chelsea at bay by making phenomenal saves.
Jorgensen delivered a solid performance, and was able to maintain a clean sheet as well in Chelsea’s first European Conference match. During the entire 90 minutes, he made some very high-quality saves. There was a moment where Malo Gusto made a wrong pass, and Servette took that opportunity. Eventually, Jorgensen saved the attempt, highlighting the great game he had.
Christopher Nkunku scored the first goal from a penalty. Except for this penalty, Nkunku had an average game. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall had some shaky moments, but he provided some good passes as well.
As the second half began, Chelsea grew into the game. Maresca made some important substitutions and brought in players like Noni Madueke, Enzo Fernandez, and Malo Gusto. These substitutions changed the game. In the second half, Enzo Fernandez provided a long pass to Madueke, and then the English winger took the opportunity well and scored his first goal of the new campaign.
On the other hand, there was an unsung hero, who ensured solidity in Chelsea’s defensive line. It is Renato Veiga. In this transfer window, Chelsea signed him from FC Basel. Maresca played him as a left back. He was calm and composed with the ball. On top of that, he tackling was very effective and mostly successful. He also dealt with the one-on-one situations really well.
The defensive coordination between Tosin Adarabioyo and Benoit Badiashile was also good. However, they have still a long way to prove themselves. We saw Axel Disasi in the right center-back position, despite the rumours of Maresca not including him in his future plans.
Chelsea’s hidden gem
Recently, Chelsea signed gem of a player from Atletico Madrid, and he is Joao Felix. In the upcoming matches, Felix will surely feature for the Blues. The Portuguese is likely to be an important player for Chelsea this season. The fans have no doubts that he will shine.
Previously, he spent a loan spell at Stamford Bridge in 2022/23 season. During that time, most of the Chelsea fans became fans of Joao Felix. All Felix needs to do is score goals and provide goal-scoring opportunities, in order to repay the love and the trust the Chelsea fans have shown him.
The Blues will play their next game against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League. If we can see a fluent link-up play between Felix and Pedro Neto, Chelsea can easily breeze past Wolves.
Chelsea’s recent performances
Till now, Chelsea have played five pre-season games, one Premier League game, and one European Conference League match. Among them, they have bagged two wins, three defeats, and two draws. Chelsea won against Club America and Servette but lost twice against Manchester City and Celtic FC. From these matches, we can see that Enzo Maresca’s team lack proper team chemistry, and the ability to win against big and strong opponents right now.
They are trying to play out from the back, which is the most difficult thing to do if your players are not in the correct position and lack experience. Opponents like Manchester City didn’t give them even a pinch of space to play out small passes in the season opener. The same thing happened with Chelsea in the pre-season game against City as well.
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