Hakim Ziyech shows why he needs game time at Chelsea

Hakim Ziyech started for the first time since the Premier League game against Wolverhampton Wanderers, and lit up the world on Wednesday. Since the Wolves game, the former Ajax man was an unused substitute in three consecutive games. Chelsea now has one leg in the EFL Cup final and that is, in large parts, thanks to a brilliant performance by Ziyech. Of course, there were other noteworthy performances, but Ziyech’s is particularly worth noting because he had been out of the line-up longer than most of the other players in the squad.

Chelsea played a 4-2-3-1, with some thinking the Blues switched between a three-centerback formation and a two-centerback formation. If the latter is true, Ziyech practically played at right wingback at certain points in the game. This is particularly impressive because the Moroccan was very good defensively, often on the right side of the ball, in defensive situations and making himself difficult to be dribbled past. Amongst the forwards, only Mason Mount made as many positive defensive actions as Ziyech, with everyone else making less. His incredible performance at both ends of the pitch served as a reminder to many about why he deserves more minutes.

Hakim Ziyech showed against Spurs why he deserves to play for Chelsea more

Ziyech’s pressing was instrumental in implementing what Tuchel wanted and the Moroccan even won possession in the final third twice. Tuchel’s plan may have been to switch between a 4-2-2-2 and a 3-5-2, but he could only have done this with a player so tactically intelligent that the lines between these two would be blurred. Ziyech started the game slowly, but even then, he was covering the right flank very well defensively. He made some crucial interceptions and made himself an outlet to get Chelsea out of pressure. Ziyech did so much work defensively and Chelsea reaped the benefits of that.

Ziyech was also as effective in the final third. Many convinced themselves that all Ziyech does is cross the ball. This is a narrative that has helped turn people against him. In reality, Ziyech doesn’t cross the ball the most on the team, and regardless of whether he is on the pitch or not, Chelsea crosses the ball a lot anyway. Sometimes crosses are the fastest way to get the ball into the area you want, especially when the opposition doesn’t give you much in the way of penetration options. Everyone loves the threaded through balls and the quick passing combination play around the defense to put your center forward one-on-one with the keeper, but you only get a chance to do that few times a games and you get to execute it perfectly even fewer times a game.

Ziyech has crossed the ball significantly less as a Chelsea player but his crosses are still the most dangerous. His crosses have the highest chance of meeting it’s target in the intended position. That said, the Moroccan’s distribution was very good against Tottenham Hotspur. He recorded a 90 percent passing accuracy and completed three out of three attempted long balls. He was also the Blues’ best attacking threat and creator, creating four chances including two clear cut ones. No one created more clear cut chances than Ziyech on the pitch, and in addition to this, no forward that started the game won a higher proportion of their ground duels (43 percent) than Ziyech. Furthermore, Ziyech took the joint-most shots of anybody on the pitch for the home side.

For a player who was an unused substitute in Chelsea’s last three matches, Ziyech looked the sharpest at several points in the game. It’s clear to see how much better the Blues are when Ziyech is fully fit and sharp. Competition for places in the front line is high, but Ziyech has definitely made an outstanding case to start much more frequently, if that performance is any indication.