Many Chelsea fans were expecting to see Conor Gallagher stay back in the summer transfer window and fight for his place in the team after a season of football in the top flight. However, Thomas Tuchel had other plans. He let Gallagher join Crystal Palace on a loan deal, and once again, he was right to do so. Gallagher has been exceptional for Crystal Palace this season. He leads the Eagles’ squad in a number of key areas with seven goals and four assists to his name in all competitions. Gallagher has been one of the best players in the league this year, as well. His performances have been consistent and he continues to look like a better footballer every week.
Gallagher was destined to do well in the English top flight after he won the Academy Player of the Year Award in 2019, an honor that was previously given to players like Fikayo Tomori, Mason Mount and Reece James. He also enjoyed two very successful loan spells at Charlton Athletic and Swansea City. There aren’t many flaws in his game to be pointed out nowadays either. He is a very dynamic and energetic midfielder that makes a lot of tackles, and has the skill of scoring goals from midfield consistently, a skill that has not been mastered by any Chelsea midfielders since the legendary Frank Lampard departed the club. Despite all of this, there might be an aspect of Gallagher’s game that he needs to improve on to break into the Blues’ first team next season.
Conor Gallagher is destined for a Chelsea breakthrough next season, but before he gets into the first team, he needs to improve in a key aspect of the game
Gallagher was on loan at West Brom last season where he got his first taste of Premier League football. He was a bright spark in an otherwise underwhelming Baggies side that was eventually relegated. At the end of the 2020-21 season, there was one statistic that stood out above many of the rest: fouls. The English international had committed 63 fouls and was booked a considerable 11 times throughout the season. This meant he ranked sixth and second in the league in those areas respectively. For comparison, the player that came closest to Gallagher’s fouls committed tally at Chelsea was Mason Mount with 62 fouls, but he was booked just twice.
This was excusable considering Gallagher—at the time—was playing his first season in the English top flight, in midfield for a relegation battling West Brom that averaged just 37.6 percent possession. This meant that he had to engage in a lot more defensive actions and thus, he picked up many fouls likely just out of frustration or to make up for his teammates’ mistakes.
One would expect Gallagher to have an improved disciplinary record for Crystal Palace this season. After all, the Eagles are team that has competed for a top 10 spot up to this point and averaged 51.1 percent possession. However, Gallagher has maintained a similar disciplinary record to the one he had in the previous campaign. At the time of writing this article, Gallagher has received four yellow cards and committed 39 fouls. This means that he ranks joint-fourth for yellow cards and third for fouls committed in the Premier League through 21 games.
For a team like Chelsea that relies on momentum to create and score goals, having a player that commits fouls and gets booked often can potentially pose a problem. This is especially true in games against teams like Newcastle United or Burnley that settle in a low block. Having too many fouls can lead to disruption of momentum and a waste of precious time. The current midfield pivot of Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic has committed 22 fouls each. They have both been booked thrice, boasting a considerably better record than Gallagher. Both Jorginho and Kovacic are experienced professionals and have mastered the art of tactical fouls, as well as getting away with them without getting booked. Gallagher will have to try to develop his own game to be able to play regularly for the Blues in the near future.
Whether Tuchel continues with a 3-4-3 and a midfield pivot, switches to a 4-2-2-2 with midfield pairing or switches to a midfield three, Gallagher is almost certain to compete for a place if he continues to perform like he is right now. If he does intend to nail down a starting position, he will have to mature more and improve his disciplinary record throughout the current season.
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