Liam Rosenior is just four days shy of being two months into the Chelsea job, and has already played Arsenal thrice. What’s more, he has lost all three. This time, it was in the most Arsenal way possible: corners.
Chelsea had all the motivation needed, and it showed in how they played. You could make the argument that they were set up to fail, however. There’s nothing Cole Palmer can offer from left winger. Nothing. Add to that a senseless second yellow from Pedro Neto, and the night went pear-shaped.
Some performances were much worse than others, but some were objectively good. Let’s see how the players fared individually.
Chelsea's individual player ratings in their loss against Arsenal
Robert Sanchez: 7/10
Sanchez was good, but a loss might make fans feel differently. Yes, he conceded two goals, but he had a positive (+) Goals Prevented value (0.22). This suggests that there’s nothing he could’ve for the goals Arsenal scored. There’s nothing the goalkeeper can possibly do when a team scores twice from corners. His distribution was shaky though. More shaky than it has been this season.
Reece James: 7.5/10
Oh James was fantastic, for most of the first half anyway. James was so good that he won all 3/3 tackles, 4/4 ground duels and the one aerial duel he contested. In addition to his defensive contribution, the club captain also completed all but three passes. His distribution was top notch. Leandro Trossard did not enjoy his stay on the pitch.
Trevoh Chalobah: 6.5/10
Chalobah also won all his duels, though he didn’t contest many, which is an issue. However, the Blues No. 23 executed his passes very well. He even created a clear cut chance. He was in both boxes, though when a team concedes twice from corners, the centerbacks are called into question, and rightly so.
Mamadou Sarr: 6/10
Sarr got his first Premier League start tonight, and I can’t be the only one baffled by it. He played well, though he missed a clear cut chance. He was defensively sound, his reading of the game was good, but he was not useful in aerial situations.
Jorrel Hato: 5/10
Hato read the game well in the first half, but Arsenal got the better of him in the last 45 minutes. He was poor in his duels though. The young Chelsea centerback was average on the ground and horrendous in the air, losing all three aerials he contested. Granted, he’s 1.82m, which is not up to 6ft.
Moises Caicedo: 7/10
Once again, not only was Caicedo our busiest midfielder, he was our best. He covered more ground than any other player, and tried as much as possible to come out on top. He was the most effective at winning the ball back, making key interceptions to stop dangerous passages of play. His passing was also impeccable. He’s the complete midfielder.
Andrey Santos: 6/10
Santos is another start I didn’t understand. However, like Sarr, he did well. Defensively, he was very good, winning most of his duels on the ground and even winning all his aerial duels. The issue is that he didn’t progress the ball much. This wouldn’t have mattered as much, but when you consider that he was literally in the center of the pack, ball progression was not optional.
Enzo Fernandez: 5/10
Fernandez was useful off-the-ball. The issue is that defending is not what he’s there for. His distribution left a lot to be desired. It’s good he wasn’t poor on both fronts, because it’d have been a waste of a starting spot.
Pedro Neto: 3/10
Even before the 70th minute, Neto was not contributing positively to the game. He was trying to defend, but he was so bad at it that he got a second yellow. His crossing wasn’t connecting, which is not entirely his fault. He lost almost all the ground duels he attempted, including dribbles. Of course, after getting sent off, Chelsea’s chances of making a comeback significantly reduced.
Joao Pedro: 6/10
There’s not much more we could’ve asked from Pedro. He gave everything he had, it’s just that nothing worked. He made it a difficult night for Arsenal’s central defenders. He got some shots off, but they didn’t lead to anything worthwhile.
Cole Palmer: 3/10
The first issue is playing Palmer as a left winger. Palmer “can” play across the front three, but he is strongest when played as a right winger or central attacking midfielder. These complaints aren’t pulled out of thin air either, because for the first in Chelsea blue, Palmer contributed nothing to a game. None of his crosses connected, none of his dribble attempts worked, he took just one shot and even created zero chances. Useless.
Malo Gusto: 6/10
Gusto mainly had to swim against the tide when he came on, so he didn’t really have a chance to make any meaningful impact. He created a chance though.
Romeo Lavia: 6/10
The takeaway from Lavia’s substitution is that he’s now fit enough to step onto the pitch. This is good, as it gives Rosenior more options.
Alejandro Garnacho: N/A
With just four minutes left on the clock, any player being substituted on is not really expected to play. Garnacho, who has a sell-on clause in his Chelsea contract, did nothing.
Liam Delap: N/A
It was good for Delap to stretch his legs, because that’s all he could’ve done when he came on.
Tosin Adarabioyo: N/A
Even though he was introduced in the 90th minute, he jumped straight into action, still making one interception and one clearance.
Liam Rosenior: 2/10
The lineup looked like ragebait. He gave Mamadou Sarr his debut against league leaders Arsenal. Cole Palmer playing on the left made him completely ineffective, and that was predictable.The loss is not on him in the strictest sense of the word, but he has some responsibility, as many of the issues stemmed from the lineup.