Ruben Loftus-Cheek continued his pre-season experiment as a forward in yesterday’s friendly against Liverpool. When will the club see the pay-off from Antonio Conte’s vision for Loftus-Cheek?
How did we not see this coming? Of course Ruben Loftus-Cheek will be our new make-shift number 9 in the upcoming season!
Contrary to expectations, for the third match in a row, Antonio Conte deployed the England central-midfielder in the forward position alongside fellow Chelsea academy product, Bertrand Traore. This is turning out to be quite an interesting experiment.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek would not have been on anybody’s short-list for players at the tip of the spear in Conte’s dual-striker formations. So far this pre-season, Conte may be the only one seeing a positive outcome from the shift.Loftus-Cheek scored in the second friendly from a corner, and is yet to score from open play.
As a forward, Loftus-Cheek has to hold the play, connect with his fellow striker, run between the defenders and act as a poacher. At the very least, he needs to show the instincts that will put him in the right place at the right time.
Unfortunately, Loftus-Cheek hasn’t been able to show any of the above skills. Chelsea’s attack with Loftus-Cheek as a forward is extremely blunt. Loftus-Cheek does not demonstrate any guile in his runs to get in behind defenses. He does not have the chemistry for well-timed link-up play with the other forwards. Against Liverpool, apart from some important interjections in the midfield and some passes towards the wingers, he was rarely a threat to the opposition goalkeeper.
On some occasions, Loftus-Cheek was forced to drift wide. On the flanks he demonstrated some of his footwork, which was one of the highlights of his game. But being a central-midfielder, he does not know how to react to the oppositions’ heavy challenges. He could not protect himself nor the ball from hard tackles and was empty in one-on-one headers.
Loftus-Cheek has the necessary physique and is good on the ball, but he is not currently cut out for a forward’s job. Conte may be trying to make the Englishman some sort of ersatz forward, but this comes at the expense of his potential contributions elsewhere on the pitch.
One of the marks of a great manager is his ability to recognize latent skills in a player, seeing something that no one else – sometimes not even the player himself – can see. With training and confidence, this player then discovers new elements in his game and takes over the world of his position. Pep Guardiola is one of the best at this.
Antonio Conte surely sees something deep in Ruben Loftus-Cheek that we do not. That’s why he’s Il Sarto and not a contributor to a fan site. Conte has repeatedly and explicitly stated his commitment to develop Chelsea’s youth into first team regular. Conte may be correcting what he sees as an error in Loftus-Cheek’s development to date, or he may see the transition to striker as the most logical course for him to maximize his potential.
Conte may also just see the opportunity to deeply challenge a young man who easily excelled at every level of the club and national youth ranks, and must be rattled out of his comfort zone to become a top-tier star.
Someday, Chelsea fans may look back and marvel at how Antonio Conte knew that the above-average youth midfielder became one of the world’s top strikers.
Next: Greatest Chelsea player qualification round voting, part 3
Either way, Antonio Conte is staying true to his word. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is an academy product who seems to be an integral part of the Italian’s plan. For that alone, we should all celebrate!