The Pride of London
Fansided

Three lessons learnt in Chelsea at Tottenham: Men amongst boys

By Gabe Henderson

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 12: Antonio Ruediger of Chelsea celebrates with Romelu Lukaku after scoring their side's first goal during the Carabao Cup Semi Final Second Leg match between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on January 12, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 12: Antonio Ruediger of Chelsea celebrates with Romelu Lukaku after scoring their side's first goal during the Carabao Cup Semi Final Second Leg match between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on January 12, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next
LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 05: Malang Sarr of Chelsea during the Carabao Cup Semi Final First Leg match between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge on January 5, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by James Williamson – AMA/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 05: Malang Sarr of Chelsea during the Carabao Cup Semi Final First Leg match between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge on January 5, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by James Williamson – AMA/Getty Images) /

2. There is a place for Malang Sarr

A lot has been made about Chelsea signing a centerback—be it last summer, this January or the upcoming summer. The Blues are in a precarious position right now with the contracts of their defenders in the sense that three are free agents in six months’ time. Trevoh Chalobah and Thiago Silva have already extended, leaving Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger’s futures up in the air. The club has reportedly held talks with all three in recent weeks and both sides in every case have shown interest in an extension. Nevertheless, as each day goes by, it becomes increasingly apparent that Chelsea could lose one or all of its soon-to-be out-of-contract centerbacks sooner rather than later.

All of that being said, not enough credit is being given to Malang Sarr. The Frenchman came into the month as the subject of speculation. There were rumors he would be sent out on loan having only played in five games all season up to that point, despite having started and gone the distance in every one, four of which were wins for the Blues. His name was called though after a couple of injuries at the back and a positive COVID-19 test from Silva. Sarr has now played in three consecutive games and looked comfortable in each, even though he played in ‘different’ positions (LCB vs Spurs; CB vs Chesterfield; LB at Spurs) in all three contests.

The 22-year-old was brought in under Lampard as a free agent, low-risk signing. He immediately went out on loan to Porto where he failed to have much of an impact. His relegation to the Porto B side by the end of the season did a lot to convince Blues fans he wasn’t quite ready for the big stage yet. Regardless, Tuchel kept him around for the year for one reason or another. Sarr may not have played in a ton of games thus far—12 less than his young counterpart, Chalobah—but he’s not played poorly in any of his outings. The Frenchman’s Man of the Match-worthy performance at Tottenham on Wednesday went a long way in proving that he does in fact have an important role to play at any given point in this Chelsea side.

He came out looking confident and like he had a point to prove. The fans have certainly started to listen to what Sarr has to say as he’s now put in three performances that are mature beyond his years. Therefore, the next time you have a conversation about the Blues’ depth at centerback, make sure to include Sarr as an important piece to the current Chelsea defensive puzzle.

Home/EFL Cup