Why Ziyech’s return to fitness is so important for Chelsea

Much has been made of Chelsea’s £200 million spending spree this summer, but arguably the most important piece of the puzzle has yet to arrive.

Hakim Ziyech was signed for £37.4 million in February, but his Chelsea debut has been delayed by a knee injury that he picked up in a preseason friendly against Brighton in August. However, during the international break, the Moroccan managed thirty minutes in a friendly against Senegal. Therefore, he is expected to make his competitive debut for the Blues against Southampton at the weekend.

Chelsea has a wealth of attacking options nowadays, but the Moroccan’s arrival should signal the start of a more fluid and exciting attack. For much of this season, Frank Lampard’s men have lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with new signing Timo Werner playing left wing, Mason Mount or Callum Hudson-Odoi on the right and Kai Havertz playing as the No. 10.

Whilst the Blues’ results this season have been varied, this side is yet to really convince spectators. Werner has struggled to have any influence in the Premier League playing off the left flank, Hudson-Odoi is still failing to find his pre-injury form and whilst Mason Mount still brings a lot to the side, he is more suited to playing centrally.

This line-up tends to leave a lot of the creative burden on Havertz, and the German is still adapting to the unique challenges of the Premier League. He has shown flashes of brilliance, such as his assist for Chelsea’s second away to West Brom, but is still yet to fully exert his influence on a Premier League match. This is not too worrying though. It takes time for players to adapt to English football, especially if they are young, so fans should be patient. However, the arrival of Ziyech should help this transition.

Firstly, Ziyech is without doubt one of Europe’s finest creators. His numbers for Ajax speak for themselves. 176 goal contributions in 216 games in the Eredivisie is a fantastic return for any forward and anyone concerned about how he will fair at a higher level need only look at his Champions League statistics: 13 goal contributions in 18 matches.

Chelsea has often looked a little short of ideas in matches this season. When we look at Chelsea’s xG—a metric used to determine how many goals a team should expect to score from the chances it creates—it is clear to see that the Blues aren’t creating enough high quality opportunities for themselves. For example, in the season opener against Brighton, the Blues had an xG of 1.38, but scored three times. This number was also inflated by the fact that Werner won a penalty, meaning from open play, Chelsea actually created very little.

There was a similar story in the Crystal Palace game, where Chelsea scored four from an xG of 2.94 (again inflated by the award of two penalties). Lampard’s squad didn’t create many chances, but a combination of poor defending and quality finishing meant it scored more goals than its performance really merited. Simply put, Chelsea is not creating enough chances and adding a player with Ziyech’s end product can only help in this respect.

In addition to his weight of numbers, though, Ziyech possesses a specific quality which Chelsea has not had since the days of Arjen Robben. He is a left-footed right winger. This may seem obvious, but having a left-footed player playing on the right gives Chelsea all sorts of different attacking options. Much has been said about Ziyech’s ability to swing in crosses from the right flank, and this will be a potent weapon for the Blues this season as Christian Pulisic and Werner both enjoy attacking the back post.

In addition to this, Ziyech’s ability to switch the play from the right flank is something Chelsea has lacked in recent years, as well. When facing a deep defensive block, as the Blues do in most matches, the ability to quickly switch the play is key to breaking defenses down. It forces defenders to adjust their position and move across the pitch, meaning spaces will open up for the likes of Havertz to hopefully wreak havoc in.

When playing with a right-footed right winger, this is a harder skill to do. The more natural passing angle when they are high up the pitch is either a ball down the line or a cross swung into the box. A left-footed right winger can instead face infield and open up the pitch more. When Ziyech picks the ball up high, he should always have two options now. Ben Chilwell should be available for a switch of play, with Pulisic making himself available for a cross to the back post. The former Ajax man has the talent to play both passes, and being left-footed means it will come naturally.

The final benefit of Ziyech’s arrival is his age. The Moroccan is 27, so he theoretically should be entering his peak years. He is considerably older than the rest of Chelsea’s attacking midfielders and with age comes a consistency of performance which should help the team massively. Whilst Lampard’s young Blues continue to develop and grow, Ziyech is already the finished article and the Blues should be able to rely on him to produce consistent, quality performances sooner rather than later.

What are you most looking forward to with Ziyech’s debut? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!