Chelsea traveled to the blue side of Merseyside to face relegation-battler, Everton, for a game in which results had more consequences for the hosts than for the visitors. The Blues were flat in the first half, something that has stopped surprising Chelsea fans altogether after the recent skid. The Toffees do deserve some credit though, as they were more disciplined and won most of their key duels. Chelsea got the result it deserved in the end, losing the game due to a needless error by the Blues’ captain, Cesar Azpilicueta, and failing to create chances at the other end of the pitch.
Here’s how each individual performed during the trip to Goodison Park:
Edouard Mendy (Goalkeeper): 5/10
The Blues finished the first half with 74% of the ball, indicating that they didn’t have many situations to defend. Edouard Mendy did face four shots on target, from which he saved three. Mendy has had a rough few weeks and he really needed this clean sheet. The Senegalese shot-stopper is actually not having a bad season, despite the wavering confidence in the goalkeeper. Once again, he was hung out to dry by a back line lacking concentration and lost his clean sheet because of the mistakes in front of him.
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Cesar Azpilicueta (Right centerback): 2/10
Azpilicueta made a costly error against Everton that was doubly embarrassing because of how experienced he is. He had no business making that error. The inexplicable mistake stemmed mainly from poor decision-making and partly from arrogance on the ball, as well. Azpilicueta had several chances to make a better decision in that scenario, but instead, he adjusted his position to give Richarlison a chance to really press the ball. It was a needless error that ultimately cost Chelsea the game. This has been the theme for the Blues for the past month: needless errors and lack of concentration in key moments.
Thiago Silva (Centerback): 3/10
Thiago Silva was poor. If only passing was the main job of a defender, eh? While the 4-1 Brentford loss was supposed to show that the Brazilian’s struggles were a blip, now it’s getting increasingly more obvious that something bigger is in play here. Silva’s intelligence is a massive boost to the side, but his physical attributes are looking more and more exploitable as time passes. Chelsea needs to get someone in to replace Silva as soon as it possibly can. Pinning the Blues’ hopes on a 37-year-old Silva is a horrendous idea for all involved. A failure to plan for life without him and naivety to think he’d continue to “age like fine wine” would see Chelsea find itself panicking to buy a new centerback when the time does finally come. When has that ever gone wrong?
Antonio Rudiger (Left centerback): 2/10
Antonio Rudiger was really poor. He lost runners, defended poorly and he had no command of his penalty area. His distribution was poor and his ball retention was worse. Rudiger lost possession 17 times, which could be nothing, but for a centerback it is definitely alarming. For comparison, Mason Mount lost possession 18 times, except that he created three chances and attempted six crosses. A centerback has no business losing the ball 17 times, especially in a high-possession squad that held onto the ball for a majority of the contest.
Reece James (Right wingback): 3/10
Reece James was poor in every facet of the game. Distribution-wise, positioning-wise and creatively. He was so out of position that he was making tackles on the opposite side of the pitch at one point. What was he even doing there? He created just one chance. James completed none of his five crosses. His ball retention was less than stellar, as well. There’s a myth that he’s so much better than Liverpool‘s Trent Alexander-Arnold defensively, it’s a wonder where this myth comes from. Probably from watching the Champions League final on loop.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Central midfielder): 8/10
If Chelsea had more than two Ruben Loftus-Cheek‘s on the pitch on Sunday, it’d have won the game. Loftus-Cheek was impressive, he did everything on both ends of the pitch to make sure the Blues did not embarrass themselves in front of their former manager. Loftus-Cheek won three duels to relieve Chelsea of pressure throughout, and he created one clear-cut chance. The midfielder also won a whopping 13 out of 17 duels—which is insane. Loftus-Cheek was busy and active throughout the match. As someone who has consistently criticized the tall Englishman, I have to give him credit. He completed three dribbles and made seven positive defensive actions.
Jorginho (Central midfielder): 4/10
After the first half, Tuchel could’ve taken off any player and it would have made sense. Jorginho’s performance in the first half wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad either. His passing was very good and he won eight out of 13 duels though. It’s possible that he was substituted off because the Italian led everyone on the pitch in tackles (5), but also in the number of times dribbled past (3).
Marcos Alonso (Left wingback): 6/10
Marcos Alonso was better than many of his colleagues on the day (low bar, I know). He won six out of his eight contested duels, won two fouls and made five defensive actions. No one on the pitch created more chances than Alonso (3) and he completed and attempted more crosses than anyone else. The Spaniard completed double the amount of the player who completed the second-most crosses—he really was sold.
Kai Havertz (Right striker): 3/10
Kai Havertz went on a run that saw him score five goals in six matches, and now he has gone back to business as usual. He has not scored in his last six games, five of which he started and one of which he played 120 minutes. He was also less than useful in those games. If this is what it takes to keep your £100 million striker on the bench then it makes sense that Chelsea is not challenging for the league title this season and why the Blues won’t challenge for it in the near future either. They need a consistent goalscorer—period.
Mason Mount (Central attacking midfielder): 5/10
Mason Mount has been poor in recent games, but Tuchel continues to reward him with minutes. It could be Tuchel just trying to be consistent with his front three so that they can develop some kind of rhythm. It could be that Tuchel thinks Mount has been fantastic. It could be that Mount is just getting selected for what he does off the ball and everything he does on the ball is just a bonus. Mount was not great in this game again, he did create three chances though.
Timo Werner (Left striker): 2/10
Timo Werner was really poor against the Toffees, though he was more ineffective than bad. This is particularly annoying because Everton was not in a deep block. Werner has been through all kinds of rough patches since he arrived at Chelsea. He has had just a few purple patches, though he’s in his most recent one. It’s going to be difficult for Tuchel and the club to decide which forwards to sell this summer as each forward has his advantages and disadvantages in the eyes of the gaffer.
Mateo Kovacic (Central midfielder): 3/10
Mateo Kovacic was quite easily worse than the man he replaced. He did create two chances and moved the ball very well, but it was hard to notice anyone in that midfield with the way Everton dominated it. Chelsea couldn’t touch the Toffees’ midfield and the fact that Kovacic only contested one duel and made zero positive defensive contributions sums it up.
Christian Pulisic (Left winger): 4/10
Christian Pulisic did what he does best: get into goal-scoring positions. Pulisic should have started this game. He has had some very good games in recent times when he has come off the bench. Tuchel’s selection is supposed to be merit-based, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that that may not be the case at all.
Hakim Ziyech (Right winger): 4/10
Hakim Ziyech did not do much when he came on other than complete all of his passes. None of his crosses connected, and he didn’t make them nearly enough anyway. Ziyech needs to start games. There’s only so much a player can do when he’s brought on as a substitute. The Moroccan has been called upon several times to try to salvage a bad result, but he has been unable to do so due to the lack of minutes given to him in the grand scheme of things. Ziyech was in superb form before he got injured, but even after being fit, he has still not started a game since his injury. It’s almost like he’s being punished for … getting injured?
Thomas Tuchel (Manager): 0/10
Tuchel has sidelined Romelu Lukaku for months now and that decision made sense within the first few weeks of making it. Havertz has stopped scoring now, but he’s still in the squad though, so it’s becoming rather puzzling. Mount is not playing well either and he keeps starting too. Tuchel has made a lot of bad decisions in recent weeks, the more infuriating thing is that he doesn’t seem to be learning any lessons with these poor results.
All match statistics are from SofaScore
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