It wasn’t pretty, but Chelsea is into the quarterfinals of the FA Cup after a 1-0 win against Barnsley. It was a struggle from start to finish which saw a formation change happen at the start of second half. The Blues switched to a back four in hopes of having more control of the game then in first half, but it was more of the same as Barnsley made it difficult for the visitors to do anything in the attacking phase of the game. That was until Tammy Abraham netted the winner in the 64′.
Several players failed to impress Tuchel in this game and may regret not doing so, here are the player ratings for the latest FA Cup victory:
Kepa Arrizabalaga (Goalkeeper): 6/10
Kepa Arrizabalaga always has a mistake in him. Luckily on Thursday it didn’t cost Chelsea the game and he left Oakwell with a clean sheet.
Emerson (Centerback/Left back): 7/10
Emerson started the game on the left side of a back three and was moved to left back for the second half. He did his job in both positions defensively, but offered virtually nothing attacking wise. Whenever he had the ball, the Brazilian was under a lot pressure and did his best just to avoid any mistakes. Overall a good job from the defender.
Kurt Zouma (Centerback): 7.5/10
Kurt Zouma got his first minutes today under the new boss and he looked to impress in hopes to earn his position back into the starting XI. The formation change saw him shift from the middle of a three to the right side with Antonio Rudiger beside him and I feel he defended resiliently during the latter stages of the second half to secure the result for the Blues.
Andreas Christensen (Centerback): 6/10
Andreas Christensen was the first causality of formation change and was subbed off during halftime for Rudiger. While he was on the pitch, he looked awkward and didn’t have the experience beside him to ease his worries like he’s had in the Premier League and suffered because of it.
Antonio Rudiger (Centerback): 7/10
Rudiger came on at halftime and alongside Zouma, played well and secured the clean sheet.
Reece James (Right back): 8/10
Reece James made a real change in the game when he came on. Like always does, his movement both off and on the ball gave life to the team and he got his reward with an assist to Tammy Abraham for the winner.
Callum Hudson-Odoi (Right wingback): 7/10
Callum Hudson-Odoi is Tuchel’s jack of all trades. He started the game at right wingback and ended the game on the left wing. He was Chelsea’s most lively player throughout the game, always trying to create something when being surrounded by three or four players. The Englishman also tracked back to help on defense, and for me, didn’t put a foot wrong.
Billy Gilmour (Central midfielder): 6/10
The whole midfield struggled and Billy Gilmour wasn’t exempt from that. When Gilmour has played this season, it has left Blues fans singing his praises. Sadly on Thursday, many won’t being doing that. The entire midfield struggled to create anything for the forwards and it was easily dispossessed. It seemed the physicality of Barnsley really impacted Gilmour. One has to hope the Scot can learn from this experience and show his worth to the manager next time out.
N’Golo Kante (Central midfielder): 6/10
N’Golo Kante returned to the starting line-up and struggled, as well, alongside Gilmour. We all know what Kante offers this team and want to see him get a good run under the new manager before judging him. Playing the full 90 minutes is good for the Frenchman going forward, as there are some big matches ahead.
Marcos Alonso (Left wingback): 5/10
The Blues have a £50 million left back on the bench and Marcos Alonso continues to be put into the starting line-up—the notion of that two or three months ago would of been laughable. He was subbed at halftime for Reece James because of the formation change, I guess Tuchel’s feelings about Alonso playing left back is the same as Chelsea fans.
Mateo Kovacic (Midfielder): 7/10
Mateo Kovacic came on for Pulisic with 10 minutes to go to secure the win and offered his leadership and composure to see out the result.
Hakim Ziyech (Right winger): 5.5/10
I was really hoping that Hakim Ziyech would have a Man of Match performance, but it couldn’t have gone any worse. Every time he got the ball, it was either a bad first touch or misplaced pass resulting in a turnover, which left him visually looking very frustrated. He was subbed off in the 69′ for Tino Anjorin, here’s hoping he can put this performance behind him.
Tammy Abraham (Striker): 8/10
Tammy Abraham has another MOTM performance in the FA Cup, he worked hard from start to finish and got his goal in the 64′, which luckily VAR wasn’t present for as the potential offside didn’t disallow the goal. That wasn’t the only decisive moment he was a part of though. He had a goal line clearance in 78′ to stop Barnsley from getting the equalizer and winning the game for the Blues on both sides of the pitch.
Christian Pulisic (Left winger): 6/10
The common theme throughout this match was that chances were hard to come by. With that being said, Christian Pulisic had little-to-no on impact on the game. The manager changed the side he was on and that actually made him less a part of the game. What we know from the first five games under Tuchel is that wingers will have a tough time making it into the side unless they have the ability to adapt and play more central. Here’s hoping Pulisic get his chance to show if he is capable of doing this or not.
Tino Anjorin (Right winger): 7/10
The youngster came on with 20 minutes to go and Anjorin almost played Abraham through twice with some decent activity in the midfield. Hopefully more appearances come for Anjorin this season.
How do you think the players performed? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!