A rotated Chelsea looks like a rotated team as Blues advance in EFL Cup

Thomas Tuchel has immense trust in his entire Chelsea squad, showcased by just how heavily he rotated for Southampton in the EFL Cup. Several players found their way in and arguably three players were out of their “natural” position. The Blues looked as advertised as they labored through a match, needing penalties to win out in the end. So what happened?

The obvious thing is this was very much not an A team. No offense to the likes of Malang Sarr, Saul Niguez, Hakim Ziyech, or Ross Barkley but none of them are in a starting XI when everyone is fit and ready to go. Sarr and Saul had some good moments, but overall the four wouldn’t have done much if anything to change Tuchel’s mind about them.

Elsewhere, James was played at centerback, Hudson-Odoi at right wingback, and Kai Havertz at striker. None of the three did bad per se but it was clear, at least for Hudson-Odoi and Havertz, that they would have been more comfortable elsewhere.

Yet, despite these self enforced setbacks, the Blues managed to hold on a create chances. A brain fart early in the second half saw the match go level and a bit wild but for the team that was selected, they held their own enough to get to penalties.

The penalty shootout went as expected. Kepa Arrizabalaga is good at saving penalties. Mason Mount is less a bad taker than he is an unlucky one as Fraser Forster made a fantastic save to deny him. Perhaps the most unusual thing about the shootout was that it was won with Jorginho remaining on the bench the entire match.

Only Ben Chilwell (strangely, at right wingback) and Mount came off the bench despite the five subs. Tuchel surely sensed how in the balance the game was and didn’t want to rock the boat too much. Jorginho would have been nice, but so would Harvey Vale who was called up for some warmups. But, you can only take advantage of the game that presents itself and Southampton was desperate for more than they got.

It wasn’t pretty, as many games this season haven’t been, but it was job done. The Blues held on to penalties, probably knowing they had the edge there. Chelsea advances to the quarter finals of this year’s EFL Cup despite not really looking very good against either Aston Villa or Southampton these last two rounds.

But, the depth has held up. Key players got a rest while others got a test. Most will have failed that test but the team overall pulled through. It certainly wasn’t the highs of the Norwich match but it could have been much worse.

A mostly rested Chelsea side now prepares to face Newcastle United in the Premier League as they wait to learn their opponent for the next round of the cup. Elsewhere, Arsenal and Sunderland (remember them?) advanced with several matches to be played tomorrow. All else the same, Tuchel will likely want another “easier” fixture to rotate as he trusts his team to get the job done. Even if it isn’t pretty.