Ethan Ampadu played the first 50 minutes for Wales in their friendly against Spain. He took up his usual national team role in defensive midfield, which creates another sticky situation with his future at Chelsea.
Ethan Ampadu had two of the few moments to bring any joy to Cardiff’s Principality Stadium in the first half against Spain. Within the first 15 minutes he made an open-field tackle on Sergio Ramos that had more than a whiff of what Ramos himself would do: low, hard, perhaps a bit late, a little was-it-intentional-no-of-course-not-maybe extra cleat as Ramos went to ground. As referee Anthony Taylor blew the whistle Ramos looked pleadingly up at Ampadu as if to ask “How could you do that, here, in a friendly?” Ampadu’s disdainful glare down at him was artistic.
Later in the half Ampadu pulled off his marker at the far post on one of Wales’ few corner kicks and floated a header off the post. David de Gea probably had it covered, but it was the closest thing to a shot on target Wales would have in the half. Unfortunately, Ampadu’s night ended prematurely in the 50′ as he limped off with some kind of injury to his left knee.
Even though Aaron Ramsey wore the captain’s armband, Ampadu was the functional leader on the pitch. Ampadu and Joe Allen were the “one back / one up” midfielders in Ryan Giggs’ nominal 3-4-3, which spent most of the game as a 5-3-2. Whenever the play opened up, Ampadu was in perpetual motion throughout the midfield, telling his teammates – particularly the defenders – where to play the ball and where to move into space, all while offering himself for an outlet pass or attempting to pull the Spanish pressing players away from the ball carrier. They rarely took the bait, but he was doing the right things.
Ampadu looked very much like Jorginho in Chelsea’s early games under Maurizio Sarri, where Jorginho gave the orders for every pass that he did not make himself. Like Jorginho, Ampadu knew his triggers for when to dart up to press a Spanish player, and may have been a bit better recovering to his defensive duties as Spain advanced. Ampadu was not the focal point for Wales’ passing like Jorginho is, but he still was always near the focal point of the play at large. In this way, he had shades of Nemanja Matic two years ago, but without the giraffe-on-ice level of agility.
Ampadu’s comfort in defensive midfield and echoes of Chelsea players past and present will not help his cause at Stamford Bridge. Even if Ampadu looks like he could offer a bit more than Jorginho in different circumstances and some additional training, Maurizio Sarri does not want another Jorginho or even a back-up Jorginho. He only wants what he has: the actual Jorginho.
N’Golo Kante is the best defensive midfielder in the world. Yet Jorginho as deep-lying playmaker is such a fixed point in Sarri’s universe, Kante has to go elsewhere. Rather than adapt the system and Jorginho’s role to have a double pivot of defensive midfielders, Sarri re-assigned Kante to the box-to-box role.
We know Sarri makes near-permanent impressions of players very early in his interactions with them. If you are in the starting XI, you stay there. If not, not. If he sees you as one position, with only a few exceptions, you stay in that position.
Ethan Ampadu’s best position may very well be defensive midfielder, particularly as a “destroyer” in front of the back line. But his most likely route into Chelsea’s squad is as a centre-back. He is as capable on defence as he is in midfield. His tackle on Ramos showed that he is willing to play physically and occasionally embrace the dark arts of defence. He has the passing ability of David Luiz, with the old-school defensive nature and positioning of Gary Cahill or John Terry. Ampadu and Andreas Christensen should be – and could be – Chelsea’s starting centre-backs next season.
Just as importantly, Chelsea’s centre-back depth chart is not as impenetrable as the defensive midfielders. As long as Maurizio Sarri is in charge, Jorginho is the deep-lying midfielder. If anything happens to Sarri or Jorginho, the club will restore N’Golo Kante to his role. No player, no matter how precocious or how proven, can overcome Jorginho and Kante. That is, unless the formation has two defensive midfielders, which again would require an unprecedented adjustment from Sarri.
Antonio Rudiger is deservedly Chelsea’s top centre-back, and David Luiz is surpassing expectations. But Luiz is aging and is always one massive error away from not being able to geezer his way into the XI. Rudiger is currently injured, and Andreas Christensen is not currently reliable. This creates a distant opening for Ampadu, but one far more realistic than at defensive midfielder.
But Ampadu needs playing time to develop into a Premier League centre-back. He will not get the Premier League minutes from Maurizio Sarri, and he will not get the minutes at that position from Ryan Giggs. Ethan Ampadu is therefore in yet another classic Chelsea bind.
Ampadu’s 50 minutes for Wales on Thursday is 50 minutes more than he has played for Maurizio Sarri all season. Paradoxically, if Ampadu makes a convincing impression on Sarri as Wales’ defensive midfielder, he may be even further away from a Chelsea XI than he is already is.