There's no escaping that it hasn't been a good season for Chelsea Football Club this year, with another frustrating result seemingly around every corner.
However, while Mauricio Pochettino has failed to create a cohesive winning machine, he has overseen a number of tremendously entertaining matches in his short tenure, with last night's 4-3 win over Manchester United being the most thrilling of all.
That said, the Argentine and most of his players were saved by Cole Palmer's brilliance more than anything else. There were plenty of shocking performances that deserve criticism, notably from Moises Caicedo and one of his young teammates.
Moises Caicedo's performance vs Man United
It wasn't a good night for the most expensive player in Premier League history last night. Not only did he look ineffective at both ends of the pitch, but he was also at fault for the Red Devils' opening goal.
Despite being under practically no pressure, the Ecuadorian international horribly misplaced a pass back to Đorđe Petrović, which Alejandro Garnacho gleefully intercepted before calmly finding the back of the net.
It was a showing that, understandably, didn't impress the Standard's Nizaar Kinsella, as the journalist awarded the Blues star a 4/10 on the night.
Unfortunately for the former Brighton & Hove Albion ace, his individual statistics from the clash don't make his performance look any better. In his 71 minutes of action, he took 63 touches, could maintain a passing accuracy of just 90%, played just one key pass, failed to take a shot on or off target, failed in his one dribble, lost four out of five duels, lost the ball nine times and made one error that led to a goal.
Minutes
71
Expected Goals
0.05
Expected Assists
0.04
Touches
63
Accurate Passes
43/48 (90%)
Key Passes
1
Shots on Target
0
Shots off Target
0
Dribbles (Successful)
1 (0)
Duels (Won)
5 (1)
Possession Lost
9
Errors Leading to a Goal
1
Overall, the £115m midfielder was disastrous, although one of his defensive teammates was arguably even worse.
Chelsea should cash in on Benoît Badiashile
The teammate in question is French centre-back Benoît Badiashile, who was a disaster from start to finish last night.
While Caicedo was the biggest offender for United's opening goal, Badiashile had a real chance to tackle Garnacho before he scored, but for whatever reason, he did nothing and just watched the Argentine pull one back for his side.
However, that wasn't the only problem with his performance, as he was then the one who gave the ball away for the 19-year-old's second of the evening, which seems to be the primary reason Kinsella awarded him just 3/10 on the night.
Unfortunately for the former AS Monaco man, despite starting just 12 games this season, last night was not his first horror show in Blue.
Against Burnley, he received a match rating of just 4/10 from 90Min's James Cormack; against Newcastle United in the League Cup, he was given a 3/10 by GOAL's Krishan Davis; and against Liverpool at Anfield, he was given a 3/10 by Kinsella, while being described as a "dreadful" defender by talkSPORT's Gabriel Agbonlahor (via GOAL).
With it now painfully clear that the 23-year-old isn't capable of playing for the Blues, Todd Boehly and Co simply have to sell him in the summer, and luckily, it looks like they might be able to do just that.
In the last few weeks it has been fairly widely reported that Serie A giants AC Milan are interested in bringing the 6 foot 4 defender to the San Siro, and while the West Londoners would likely have to accept a lower price than they paid, they should take it.
Poch must axe 5/10 Chelsea man who was saved by Palmer vs Man Utd
The Blues ace was bailed out by the young superstar.
ByJack Salveson HolmesApr 5, 2024
Ultimately, there were plenty of shocking performances from Chelsea last night. However, while Caicedo clearly still has a future at the club, Badiashile does not and should therefore be sold as soon as possible.
