Newcastle 4-1 Chelsea ratings: Badiashile stands out, barely
After consecutive match weeks where Chelsea scored four goals, flaws in the Blues performance were finally exposed by a well-coached Newcastle United side. CFC traveled to Tyneside in a highly anticipated match, considering the form the west London side seemed to be in, it ended up being a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Eddie Howe’s men. It was, more importantly, a spineless, embarrassing showing from some unexpected individuals in Blue. Here are the Blues ratings from that apology of a performance.
Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez: 4/10
Sanchez could have done better on some of the goals, but the reality is that Newcastle created four big chances and scored three. Sanchez was not really to blame for any of the goals Chelsea conceded.
Reece James: 0/10
James gets a zero because, regardless of his performance, he was irresponsible and careless, as well as being selfish. First of all it should be noted that James won 10/16 duels he attempted on the night. However, James has no explanation for taking a free kick off Raheem Sterling, who had scored a free kick in the game. He went on to get booked for time-wasting, and then get a second yellow from a foul that was an arrogant attempt at chipping his man. A chipped attempt that failed miserably.
James showed no leadership by getting two chap yellow cards to get sent off in a game his teammates were already losing three goals to one. It was the height of irresponsibility and arrogance for James to get sent off the way he did. He is captain now, he has to be more serious. He has no business trying a fancy chip in a game you’re 3-1 down.
Thiago Silva: 2/10
Silva made an error that had quite an impact on the game and on his teammates. Conceding a third goal within one minute of conceding a second in the manner CFC did reeked of a lack of concentration on Silva’s part. The error was so outrageous it looked like an intentional pass to Joelinton. It was inexcusable, there’s no other way to put it. His error took the game away from the Blues’ hands and everything went out of control from that point.