Chelsea: Ruben Loftus-Cheek still has it but needs to learn how to use it

It was always an unknown as to how Chelsea’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek would return after a year off. He still has it, but needs to learn how to use it again.

Injuries do weird things to players. Well, not necessarily weird given it is understandable, but it changes them. Sometimes that change is only in the short term (relatively) as it was for Kurt Zouma. Other times those changes force a player to change their entire game.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek spent a year away from the field. It was already an open question as to how he would fit into the new look Blues. After seven appearances with two starts, the question is not answered but a few things have become clearer.

The talent is still there for Loftus-Cheek. The physicality and the decision making are not. The former is tied to the latter. Overall, it is safe to say that Loftus-Cheek still has “it” but he needs to learn how to use it again, even if that requires a completely new way of playing.

The Norwich match, as well as others, showed what Loftus-Cheek is capable and what he is no longer able to do (at least currently). On the ball, he is as tidy as he has ever been. Few players in this Chelsea side are able to receive the ball and control it, both with dribbling and passing, as well as Loftus-Cheek.

It is the physicality that is an issue which is understandable. Loftus-Cheek is clearly still feeling out his body as well as being hesitant of doing too much too soon. Against Norwich, he often stayed very high up the pitch rather than dropping lower as a midfielder would be expected to do in buildup. This caused Willian to have to drop deep to give an option on that flank. It was not ideal nor part of the plan, but the team at least worked around it.

At other times in that match, Loftus-Cheek would come very deep but he would often stay there rather than drive forward. This would cause Jorginho to either push up or the play to be switch to the left where there was more of a presence. Overall, it was not an issue because Norwich did not make it one, but against a better team Loftus-Cheek could have easily have been a passenger (even more so than some surely believe he was).

Ironically, it more or less brings Loftus-Cheek back to the player he was perceived to be under Jose Mourinho (and to a lesser extent, Antonio Conte). Back then he was tidy on the ball, but there was a belief that he was “lazy” off it. Conte tried to adapt and use him as a striker to work around that issue. It was not until Roy Hodgson had Loftus-Cheek on loan that he began to become the more dynamic player he was pre injury.

Loftus-Cheek’s physicality can return in time of course. But if it does not, the Englishman will need to adapt his game one way or the other. He could still be an excellent playmaker, either advanced or deep, but Frank Lampard and company will need to decide if they can work with that in the event he is unable to get back up to speed. Lampard will be able to point to his former teammate Michael Ballack, often compared to Loftus-Cheek, as an example of how to adapt after injuries.

But the main thing will be Loftus-Cheek figuring things out as he gets more minutes. The talent is still very much there, it just may need to be used differently than before. It will be a test for the player, but one he can pass if he shows the commitment he has in recent seasons and through his recovery.