Chelsea player ratings vs. Wolves: A draw in Thomas Tuchel’s debut
Callum Hudson-Odoi (Right wingback): 7.5/10
Hudson-Odoi was the best player on the pitch—it’s as simple as that. He had a fantastic game, and was very unlucky to see his chances wasted as so many of them had goal-scoring potential. He was involved in almost every big chance of the game.
In his first game as a wingback, Hudson-Odoi thrived. He beat his marker almost every time, made countless runs to the sideline for crosses that generated a lot of chaos in the Wolves half. Those crosses, my God, they deserved better—especially one in the 5′ where he drilled in a near-perfect pass, but no one could tap it in. Hudson-Odoi made great runs in behind Wolves’ back line, which was crucial, especially those from Hakim Ziyech. He was a menace all night for the Wolves defense, and also had a vital defensive intervention in the 88′. All he was missing was a goal involvement, which isn’t on him. Wolves defended excellently, and the players in the box should’ve done better.
Mateo Kovacic (Central midfielder): 6.5/10
Honestly, even though he doesn’t have a very high rating, Mateo Kovacic was one of the best players on the pitch today. In the first half, he was very active. Sometimes he would drop in between the centrebacks, or sit in front of them; other times, he would make a deep run to escape the press and create some pockets of greenery for his teammates. In the second half, it was more of his distribution, and he did that perfectly. Kovacic had a chance late in the game where he took a shot from distance and it went inches wide—literally, inches. A good performance overall from Kovacic.
Jorginho (Central midfielder): 5/10
Jorginho was average today. Realistically, he was pretty good with passing, but honestly, he didn’t take a lot of risks today. What he did was pretty basic, in my opinion. He didn’t pose a threat to goal, which isn’t expected of him, but if you watched this game, you’d know how heavily involved these players were in Wolves’ half. Anyway, he didn’t have that much to do defensively either. The amount of time he had the ball for, he should’ve done more.
Ben Chilwell (Left wingback): 5/10
It was an average performance from the fullback. Ben Chilwell was at the left wingback position, so he was seen high up the flank almost all the time. He had a couple of chances in the box where he should’ve done better. First, there was a cross from Hudson-Odoi that Chilwell tried to half-volley into the goal, but the volley was wide; then there was a chance in the second half where he got the ball inside the box, but had too much power behind his shot. Other than that, not a lot to do defensively. He had a few giveaways, as well, but nothing came out of it. He was subbed off for Christian Pulisic in the 76′.
Christian Pulisic (Right wingback): N/A
Christian Pulisic didn’t have that big of an impact—nothing noteworthy from the American.