Chelsea: Three players who need to improve in order to play regularly

2. Hakim Ziyech

While it is tough to call Hakim Ziyech a proper flop player, he can also not be called a great success. The problem with the Moroccan international is that he has moments of absolute brilliance and he scores some extremely important goals, but  then he goes missing for long periods of time. His goal against Villarreal in the Super Cup was extremely important. Yet, he has not been able to keep up his form ever since, even after returning from injury. This is not due to the lack of chances given by Tuchel, rather it is due to the lack of creativity and ability to showcase his skills properly.

He was given starts against Aston Villa, Juventus, Zenit and in the League Cup. However, in most of those contests, he had little-to-no impact during his time on the pitch. Ziyech is very gifted and undoubtedly one of the most technical players at Chelsea. His vision is second to none and he has the ability to make some truly mind-boggling passes. However, the problem is, he does not show his true forms in every match. In the four matches that he has started since returning, he has no goals or assists, meaning he has no involvement. He gets enough time on the ball to make a move, but for some reason, he cannot break the defence, even with Romelu Lukaku supporting him.

The Chelsea midfield itself has not been the best as of late and players like Mason Mount and Kai Havertz also have to become more involved. The problem with Ziyech, however, is that he was never a regular starter for Chelsea. Tuchel experimented a lot with Mount and Havertz last season and they are the preferred duo out wide either side of the Blues’ new star No. 9. For the Moroccan to get in, he will have to start performing consistently. Nevertheless, that might be difficult since players like Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ross Barkley have also started to perform quite well.