The Premier League campaign of Chelsea has taken a downturn this season. Thus, marked by surprising yet disappointing home defeats to Nottingham Forest. Also humbling losses on the road to an equally struggling Manchester United side.
To compound their challenges, club captain Reece James is now facing another spell on the sidelines due to a hamstring injury sustained in Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat to Everton last week.
Chelsea opted to start the Ukrainian winger on the left flank instead of Raheem Sterling. Potentially with the hope that, against a supposedly relegation-threatened Everton side, the player could regain some form. However, whatever the rationale behind this decision was, it ended up backfiring.
In the span of 97 minutes on the field, Mudryk lost possession of the ball 19 times, equating to losing the ball every five minutes. This statistic is notably poor and verges on the point of being almost comical.
Is it time up for Mudryk at Chelsea?
Given his performance, it’s surprising that Mudryk’s teammates didn’t refrain from passing him the ball altogether. The speedster, earning £100k per week, didn’t manage to take a single shot, let alone inside the goal. Additionally, he only succeeded in half of his crosses and managed a meager expected goals figure of 0.05.
While there are indications of talent in Mudryk, the season hasn’t seen it come to fruition. If Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino aims to provide the fans with something to cheer about on Saturday afternoon, it might be imperative for Mudryk not to be included in the lineup.
In the quest for a much-needed win this weekend, Mauricio Pochettino should have Raheem Sterling’s name already on the teamsheet. While Mudryk’s place should be firmly on the bench for Chelsea.
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