Chelsea: Michy Batshuayi back to square one as Conte taxes Eden Hazard
By George Perry
Antonio Conte elected to play Eden Hazard as a false-nine instead of starting Michy Batshuayi in place of the injured Alvaro Morata. Batshuayi’s career development cannot withstand much more time in Chelsea’s purgatory.
Claims of Michy Batshuayi’s emergence at Chelsea are grossly exaggerated. The Belgian’s season was off to a somewhat encouraging start, as he amassed seven appearances for 196 minutes through Chelsea’s first 16 games. Last season he played 239 minutes in 20 appearances, reflecting the use of stoppage time as “Batshuayi time” under Antonio Conte. Batshuayi also has 123 Champions League minutes and 90 minutes in the Carabao Cup in 2017.
Tuesday’s fixture against Huddersfield Town should have been Batshuayi’s chance to start and pierce last season’s playing time total. Alvaro Morata picked up an injury midweek and did not travel to John Smith’s Stadium. Batshuayi had played 99 minutes of football in the preceding week – 90 of them with the development team in the Checkatrade Trophy. Recent injury or not, he was fit and rested to face a team that had allowed 26 goals coming into the game.
Instead, Antonio Conte played Eden Hazard as a false-nine in the 3-4-3. Chelsea’s consistently inconsistent wingers, Pedro and Willian, flanked Hazard and the trio had an exceptional game. But there was no reason for Hazard to be there and Batshuayi to be on the bench, except for the obvious.
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If Conte was concerned about rest and recovery periods, Hazard should have been his higher concern. Hazard played the full games against Atletico Madrid and West Ham United in the precediing week. Since returning from his own injury Hazard has been in every squad except for the Carabao Cup squad against Everton on October 25. With the exception of the November 29 game against Swansea, Hazard has played over 65 minutes in every appearance (14) since September 30.
If Batshuayi’s inexperience and lack of offensive creativity most concerned Conte, he could still have played Hazard alongside his compatriot. The Belgians could have been the striking pair in the 3-5-2. Or, Hazard could have taken his usual role in the 3-4-3 as a free-wheeling left wing with the in-form Willian on the right.
In that 3-4-3, Eden Hazard would continue to probe the defence, flick the ball on to Batshuayi and Willian and find the way through and behind the Terriers’ block. Willian would do likewise from the opposite side, and Batshuayi could wait to punch in a scrap.
Chelsea’s wing-backs had one of their best games against Huddersfield, as well, with the Terriers narrowing the pitch and conceding the flanks for Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses to send in a series of crosses. Chelsea have struggled in recent games with putting a boot onto free balls into the box (sometimes very free balls – very free). Alvaro Morata is an artist, not a poacher – lately to his and his team’s detriment. Michy Batshuayi, on the other hand, scores few pretty goals, but all are effective and timely.
Batshuayi’s abilities and style of play lend themselves to the 3-4-3 against a team like Huddersfield. The Blues likely still needed Eden Hazard on the pitch to find a way through the Terriers’ defence and set up the scramble that Batshuayi could exploit. But just because Chelsea needed him on the pitch does not mean they needed him in that role, particularly not for 70 minutes at Batshuayi’s expense.
Chelsea need a backup striker, and Michy Batshuayi is a better substitute than backup. But in the absence of a true backup and when the starting striker is injured, taxing Eden Hazard to start as the false-nine is a vote of no confidence in Batshuayi. Michy Batshuayi is now 1.5 years into his Chelsea career, and is hardly further along than Ruben Loftus-Cheek or Dominic Solanke were. He needs to follow their example and find a way out of Stamford Bridge next month.
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Whether that is on loan or a permanent transfer depends on the club giving him an honest assessment of his future as a Blue – and whether he will believe what they tell him after his experiences of the last 16 months.