Ruben Loftus-Cheek has been going from strength to strength with each performance. But where does he fit best for this Chelsea side?
Just as Loftus-Cheek is defined, he tears up the dictionary and says “start again”. The young Englishman has gone through so many changes in his career and every new manager that evaluates him seems to come to a new conclusion.
In the old 4-2-3-1 days, he was a pivot player. Antonio Conte saw him as a forward. Roy Hodgson got the best out of him on the side of a diamond. Gareth Southgate tried him as a width creating centermid. And now Maurizio Sarri has used him as a centermid and as a winger (in name only).
Loftus-Cheek is a player who has at times been limited to a role before completely flipping the script and showing up in another. His recent performances have more than earned him a spot in the starting XI. But where does he fit Chelsea best?
It appears that the common denominator over Loftus-Cheek’s positioning is his defensive work rate. On the ball, he can do things that a player of his size simply does not do normally. He can seemingly dribble through opponents with ease or find the tightest of passing lanes. But off the ball? Well he has never been one too press to hard or to drop back too quickly.
Because his biggest weakness is defense, it makes some sense to use him in a wider area. There, his best attacking traits can come out in a lower traffic area and his worst defensive traits become less of an issue. It may mean he becomes less involved however.
From the center, Loftus-Cheek will see a lot of the ball. He also fits the mold of centermid Sarri wants on the left as he can burst in between lines and connect the midfield and the front three. But his defensive lapses become far more evident there and it is much easier for him to get caught out or get stuck in traffic.
Another option is a hybrid of the two roles. Sarri has used 4-3-1-2 before and Loftus-Cheek seems tailor made for the spot behind the strikers. There, he could roam wide or central and affect the play as needed. But that would put more of a burden on the two wider center mids and fullbacks to defend the flanks and halfspaces.
There is also the option of using him as a false nine. Conte saw him as a forward but this is probably not a good use of Loftus-Cheek. Using Eden Hazard or Loftus-Cheek there gives the ability to use more defensively minded wingers and helps the side achieve balance. But it also takes players a manager wants to have more touches of the ball and puts them in a spot where they would have less influence. It could work if Chelsea is dominating possession but would likely not be a good deployment of Loftus-Cheek.
Regardless of where Sarri sees Loftus-Cheek, the Englishman has earned his starts in the Premier League. He has done more than enough to justify playing somewhere and Sarri needs to find a spot. Whether that is by dropping Willian, Mateo Kovacic, or someone else remains to be seen but the player is ready for the big show.