It’s public knowledge that Tuchel preferred his wingbacks to provide the width for his teams at Chelsea. This meant players like Hakim Ziyech that made their career out of operating from the right winger position cutting inside had to now adapt their games to play as central attacking midfielders. Note that the central attacking midfielder position is one Ziyech has played often, however, under the former Blues manager he had to share that position with another attacking midfielder.
The former Ajax man was bought to be a stable outlet for goal-scoring chances; he has not quite lived up to that billing. Ziyech ranked joint third (34) for chances created in his first season at the club and ranked third for chances created per 90 minutes (2.62). In his second season, he ranked 4th (30) for chances created and 4th for chances created per 90 (2.04).
Interestingly, Ziyech ranked third for big chances created (6) in the league in his first season but first for big chances per 90. In his first season, he ranked second for big chances created for the Blues (9) and first for big chances created per 90. Please now select the ‘Next page’ option directly below this sentence in order to access the subsequent page of the current article, thank you.
Ziyech has shown signs of being the guy that can be the solution to the Blues‘ attacking issues, however, he has never been in the starting lineup long enough for fans to find out if he indeed can be that guy. Whatever you think about him, he clearly has the best creation instincts: he recorded the fewest passes between key passes (16.1) in the 2020/21 league season and ranked second for fewest passes between big chances (91.3) for the Blues.
Last season, the wideman ranked third for fewest passes between key passes (18.1) but ranked first for fewest passes between big chances (60.3) for the Blues in the league. For context, Kevin De Bruyne created a big chance every 73.2 passes and Trent Alexander-Arnold created one every 111 passes. This shows that Ziyech created more frequently than them, who where should he play under Graham Potter?
Against RB Salzburg in Potter’s first ever Champions League game, Ziyech came in for eight minutes and occupied the fight flank a lot. After the game, Potter pointed out that he was playing a back three and Sterling was at left wingback. This indicates that Ziyech was likely playing a corresponding role at right wingback when he was on the pitch. This is likely where Ziyech will play, and that may be a better use of his skill set than at central attacking midfielder.
The Moroccan is know to like to start on the right and cut inside if he feels like it. His passing skills and position at the right wing flank gives him several passing angles. Playing down the right flank also means he ensures he receives the ball in very good starting positions. On the left wing his passes are all telegraphed, and he’s half as effective because his passing angles are significantly fewer.
When Ziyech picked up the ball against Salzburg he had the option of slipping the ball to a player running down the right half-space, which he did. He had the option of slipping the ball to a striker running in behind, which he tried to do several times. He also had the option to swing an in-swinging cross to someone at the far post, which he tried to do as well. In addition to these, he also had the option of dribbling to the byline.
In addition to the passing options, he has the benefit of being temporarily out of sight of the centerbacks, allowing the Moroccan to drift into the box and get into very good goal-scoring positions, which he did, three times. The difference between Potter’s wingbacks and Tuchel’s wingbacks is that the current boss’s wingbacks can also be inverted wingers who can also cut inside. This allows him more options on who he can deploy there and getting several runs in that right wingback role would give the ex-de Godenzonen star a platform to do more of what he’s good at, from where he’s more effective.