Four defining players in Chelsea’s win: Emerson, Bakayoko, ‘Girata’
Chelsea overcame fellow Europa League hopefuls Burnley in a comfortable victory with a not-so-comfortable scoreline. The Blues debuted a new system, while a certain Brazilian left-back finally got a chance to play.
Two out-and-out strikers in a two striker system? Emerson Palmieri finally getting a chance to show his potential? Antonio Conte has well and truly lost the plot on his farewell tour from Chelsea.
Olivier Giroud + Alvaro Morata = ‘Girata’
Why it took Antonio Conte so long to try Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud (Girata) is a question to be asked and theorised about when the manager likely leaves in the summer. Nevertheless, it worked. The Spaniard and the Frenchman showed good chemistry in their first start together.
Morata’s one-on-one miss will be the long-lasting talking point. It appeared to be a Nick Pope save rather than a Morata howler, anyway. But throughout the course of the match the strikers played off one another. Their spacing was near perfect: Morata, in particular, resisted the urge to wander out to the wings.
Ideally, both would have created more opportunities in the box for one another, but Morata running in behind worked well for the pair.
Eden Hazard has tried with little success to play with Morata. Asking the Belgian to be a target man does not work. While Chelsea’s No. 9 scores headers he plays with too similar a style to Hazard.
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Keeping Michy Batshuayi and rotating him with Morata and Giroud in a front-two, with Eden Hazard behind in the role Pedro played at Burnley, should have been the plan for the season. Oh, what could have been!
Antonio Conte must make up for Emerson’s lost time
Antonio Conte insisted on playing Davide Zappacosta and Pedro at left wing-back before Emerson had his chance. His injury 18 months ago was the excuse, but 18 minutes of Premier League action since January is ridiculous. The Brazilian showed just how ridiculous it was by putting in a strong performance.
He crossed well, played safe passes, but was also keen to dribble off the flanks towards the middle of the pitch, an option Marcos Alonso does not provide. Sure, Chelsea fans may have wanted to see an elastico or two, but Emeson was solid in defence and threatening going forwards. He collected an assist and probably should have played more sooner.
Chelsea’s problem right now is they have two (three, if you count Kenedy) good left wing-backs and two average right wing-backs. Victor Moses was very good against Burnley, but this season has been a drop-off for him.
If Emerson can play 80+ minutes now, there is no reason to not give him more starts as the season winds down.
Bakayoko is back-ayoko
Tiemoue Bakayoko was very good at Turf Moor. Don’t let the Chelsea fans on Twitter constantly using him as a scapegoat sway your mind. Pedro could dribble into his own net and fans would blame Bakayoko for not noticing the Spaniard had gone rogue and tackle him.
In a match when N’Golo Kante was sub-par his French midfield partner stood tall. He made safe passes and timed his tackles well. He even had a late game surge through the centre of the park, winning a free-kick. More of that, please!
While this may sound like the bare minimum expected from a central midfielder, praise is good. Burnley created nothing through the centre of the park and Bakayoko helped Emerson defensively while linking well with him in attack. The two combined to set up Chelsea’s winning goal.
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A strong performance from Chelsea against a surprisingly good Burnley side should hopefully feed the club some momentum heading into the FA Cup semi-final. Bakayoko is growing in confidence, the two-striker system worked and Emerson should give Alonso strong competition. Late on, some light in a dark season for Chelsea.