Chelsea player previews: Charly Musonda and Victor Moses
Charly Musonda could take advantage of injuries to stake his claim in Chelsea’s squad. Meanwhile, Victor Moses will continue his unlikely progression as one of the Premier League’s top wing-backs.
For several years Charly Musonda Jr has been one of the brightest talents in the Chelsea academy. He showcased his potential during a relatively successful loan spell in Spain at Real Betis. Now he is back in England with Chelsea. This is the right move for his career because at his age he needs to start making Premier League appearances.
Players should be making their debuts for the senior side between ages 17-20. Chelsea too often stunt the growth of their players by waiting until they are 22-24. Before that, they loan them out to lower quality teams.
Musonda’s experience in the Spanish top flight, a league whose players often adapt well to England, will have shown him the level of quality he needs to achieve. This season will be the year that he must make the most of his potential, and at least start to show it in England.
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He is lucky that with Eden Hazard and Pedro out for at least the first few games he may get a few good opportunities at the beginning of the season. Hopefully he makes roughly 20 appearances throughout 2017/18.
Charly Musonda has the talent to match Ousmane Dembele at Borussia Dortmund. It’s about time that Chelsea let him show that, or they will rue having absolutely wasted his talent down the line.
Victor Moses
Victor Moses is deeply under-appreciated for his work ethic, mental fortitude and footballing intelligence. He turned several seasons on loan as a winger – while being disrespectfully cast aside by Chelsea – into being one of the players of the season in an entirely new position.
That Barcelona were circling at one point is a testament to what a footballer he is.
That said, he still needs to work on some things. For all his work ethic, his tackling is best described as, shall we say, appalling. He never times the tackle correctly. His second or third challenge, as well as the help of Cesar Azpilicueta and N’Golo Kante, is what usually salvages him on defence.
He handles his positional play well and is not often caught out of position. But his one-on-one defending is the stuff of nightmares. He is also not very good in the ai,r and his crossing is more just passes to the opposition.
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He has the physicality, mental strength and athleticism to become the best right wing-back in the Premier League. He should continue that progression this season, and the range of his abilities will be very obvious.