Chelsea: Three notable players from draw to Brighton, all at the back

Chelsea dropped two points at Brighton to start the new year. Here are a few players who made notable contributions to what turned out to be a dispiriting game.

Another bottom half team, more dropped points. The plot twist in this one is that Chelsea were on the road. Oh, and that it was the first Premier League point Brighton had ever earned against Chelsea, ending the longest streak of its kind. Let’s take a look at a few notable Blues.

1. Kepa Arrizabalaga: Goalkeeper and Man of the Match

Our questions about Kepa Arrizabalaga have escalated over the course of the season, ranging from his distribution to his shot stopping to his communication to his willingness to come out for the ball to who signed off on his £72 million transfer fee. After his performance against Brighton, perhaps those questions will stay all the way back in 2019.

Arrizabalaga made two high quality saves to keep the score 1-0 deep into the second half. One was a diving save low to his right, and the other a save with his left leg as he was partially moving in the wrong direction but still put his limb to the ball. The first save came off the kind of shot that has left Chelsea fans hanging and shaking their heads, but his reaction and strength were more than sufficient to send the ball away.

Arrizabalaga also seemed more aggressive in charging out to claim crosses and corner kicks. His execution wasn’t perfect, but he was at least adding it to his repertoire. Any sign of progress is a good thing, and anything anyone can do to help Chelsea’s defence is always welcome.

2. Reece James: Body man

We’ll learn a lot about Brighton fans the next time Chelsea visit Amex Stadium, sometime in the 2020/21 season. If they boo Reece James every time he touches the ball, we’ll know they’re no sharper than the Tottenham fans who still boo Marcos Alonso over his brace a few seasons ago; or the Stoke fans who would jeer Victor Moses for years after his loan spell there, as if he was some sort of turncoat instead of, you know, a loanee.

James made himself an enemy of the home fans in the 20′, when he went up for an aerial duel against Dan Burn. Everything was completely legal: both players were watching the ball, the contact was shoulder-to-shoulder, arms were down, neither player undercut or went over the top of the other and there was no head trauma. James simply liquefied Burn’s insides with the force of his contact. Unfortunately, Burn had to come off using his shirt as a sling for his left arm, the one that James collided with. This started the booing every time James touched the ball for the remainder of the game.

In the second half James had another massive and legal collision with a Brighton player, leading to a short stoppage in play. Again, the contact was completely legal – just rawly physical and perfectly executed.

James was eventually booked in the 90+3, which gave the home fans one more thing to cheer about at Chelsea’s expense heading into the final whistle.

Reece James further endeared himself to Chelsea fans and earned the home fans’ animosity with a complete game at right back. He had four tackles, four interceptions, two shots, four crosses and one key pass. Every time he approached the top corner of Brighton’s penalty area, he was looking for Tammy Abraham and Christian Pulisic and they were looking for the pass from him. Once he and the forwards figure out the rhythm and placement of the service he can provide, Chelsea are going to have a powerful option for goal scoring.

The only downside to James’ performance in this and other games is that sometimes his confidence seems to get the better of him. When in position to make a cross, sometimes the best option is to lay the ball off to Willian rather than pop it right into the box. On defence, he is sometimes too casual in the tackle. And at Brighton, on both offence and defence he drifted far into the centre of the pitch, which left the right side exposed for an attack unless Willian or N’Golo Kante ran back to cover it.

3. Antonio Rudiger: Increasingly vocal

What is it with Chelsea players having some of their best performances while wearing head bandages? Antonio Rudiger was not at the level of Jorginho versus Watford last season or the famous “Victorian orphan with a toothache” game from Gary Cahill, but the German continued to be an increasingly fiery leader on the backline.

Rudiger is no longer suffering fools, whether it is the goalkeeper behind him, the centreback next to him, the midfielders in front of him or the referees whistling him.

Cesar Azpilicueta is a worthy club captain, but he does not have the in-your-face fear-of-God anger that captains sometimes need to have. No one in the squad has really had that since John Terry left (well, Diego Costa did in his own weird choke-Nemanja-Matic-to-celebrate-a-goal kind of way, but that was not exactly a leadership attribute), and many times this club and its players need it.

Rudiger may not be in the current captain hierarchy, but he is commanding the respect and attention of those around him. If Azpilicueta wears the armband and has Rudiger has the enforcer, the Blues will have the sort of on-pitch leadership they have missed over the last two seasons. And just as importantly, it will show the younger players that everyone on the team – not just the captain and vice-captain – has leadership responsibilities and opportunities.

As long as they – starting with Rudiger – know when to let the fire out and when to keep the emotions and ego in check, the Blues will be better off for having a team of leaders.