Chelsea played 90 mostly forgettable minutes on their way out of the Carabao Cup. No players particularly stood out for better or worse, making the cumulative effect that much more dreary.
Chelsea needed another half-time talk from Frank Lampard about how to play their football. The XI that faced Manchester United at least had some excuse that they were an unfamiliar group and two of them had not played with the first since the previous round against Grimsby Town. Then again, they were two of the Blues’ most useful players, so let’s just get into it.
Willy Caballero, Goalkeeper: 6
Willy Caballero only faced one shot from open play. We know how United’s other two shots, the ones from set pieces, turned out: Caballero simply guessed the wrong way on Marcus Rashford’s penalty, and there was nothing he could do on the free kick.
Caballero continues to be a source of heart-in-mouth moments whenever he involves himself in the play. Those moments are more frequent and more oracardial this season given how the Blues are on the backpass-to-the-keeper and short-passes-through-and-around-the-box bandwagons. If Caballero, Jorginho and Kurt Zouma playing tippy-tappy doesn’t give you nightmares, you’re either truly calloused or you really don’t get the game.
Reece James, Right back: 7
Once the play picked up in the second half, Reece James and Callum Hudson-Odoi had a few good interchanges, but those did not lead to any real chances. For someone as fast and dynamic as Reece James is, he did not add much through overlapping runs with Hudson-Odoi or by quickly connecting the defence and midfield with the attack. He still looks like he is running through water, which indicates how much match sharpness and top-end conditioning he has yet to do.
He’ll have plenty of time to do that, because he is still showing nowhere near enough to replace Cesar Azpilicueta (as expected).
Kurt Zouma, Centre back: 6.5
Tennis champion Maria Sharapova once said she felt like a “cow on ice” when playing on clay courts. There has to be a similar analogy to describe Kurt Zouma on the ball: rhino on a tight rope? Bison playing cello? There’s a retweet in it for whoever comes up with something good.
Here’s the thing, though: it may not be pretty, but Zouma often gets the job done with the ball at this feet, particularly when dribbling. His frame and proportionally heavy step-overs are amusing in a watch-through-your-fingers kind of way, but he moves the ball up field, often very far up field until he hits the opponent’s defensive line or one of his teammates opens up nearby for a pass. His pass selection is far more worrying than his pass execution. If he limited himself to only passing forward, those criticisms would go away.
Marc Guehi, Centre back: 6.5
Most viewers agreed that they forgot Marc Guehi was on the pitch, which is a resounding compliment for 19-year old making his second first-team start. Imagine my surprise, then, to see that Guehi led the team in passes and pass accuracy, and even made a key pass.
Marcos Alonso, Left back: 6
Yes, Marcos Alonso gave away the penalty that put Manchester United on the board. But as far as soft penalties go, that was a down feather bed. Yet before the night was out, it would end up being maybe only fourth or fifth most egregious act of referee malfeasance.
Alonso gave up the penalty because he was closing down the ball carrier and covering for his teammate who the aforementioned ball carrier had passed without breaking a sweat. Alonso was in a position and situation common for defenders, ones where even a deft tackle with a marginal amount of contact can result in a foul if the referee is so inclined, and, oh my, was he ever inclined.
Emerson simply would not have been in that position. Maybe, if, hypothetically, he was in that position, he would have made a cleaner tackle. More likely he would have been skinned like a deer, because that happens a lot, too. Nor would Emerson have been in many of the offensive positions Alonso takes up. Alonso was working in support of Christian Pulisic on the left, which built in a learning and adjustment curve.
Like everyone else in Blue, not his best night, but certainly not sufficient to make it his last night just because Emerson is healthy.