The final of the 2021/2022 Carabão cup went down on Sunday in Wembley before over 85 thousand fans. The match which took place amidst political unrest in Ukraine meant there was some sort of distractions owning to the connection of Chelsea’s owner, Roman Abramovich to Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
The game started with so much promise as previously envisaged and over the course of 120 minutes, every single neutral fan probably had the best final in decades. For Chelsea fans, the final was a chance to brag once again about how good a team Chelsea is while Liverpool fans had the chance to redeem themselves after being tagged bottlers of domestic cup competitions.
The match as expected was a keenly contested affair with hard tackles coming from both sides. The intensity was top notch from both teams and the coaches were not left out of the action as they both remained animated on the touch line.
With both sides perfectly balanced on the scale of performance, Chelsea did create the best chances and if it were not for wasteful finishing and lack of luck, the Carabao cup that has eluded the blues since 2015 when it was still christened the Carling Cup would be in the hands of the London giants.
Here, are 6 lessons learned from the final,
Mendy is top class
After the lineups were announced, many including myself felt some sort of injustice had been done to cup goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga as he was a key factor in bringing Chelsea to the final after his penalty shootout heroics against Villa and Southampton. Come the game proper, Tuchel was justified with his decision to keep faith with his trusted number one and Mendy showed up big on all the occasions he was called upon. The FIFA beat goalkeeper of 2021 saved from his countryman, Mane when it seemed destined that the Liverpool attacker would put his team ahead. His command of the area all through the game was equally brilliant and his passing oozed confidence even tho risky at times.Mendy is the very best out there at the moment!
Kai remains the go-to man for the big occasions
German attacker, Kai Harvertz once again proved he’s no longer a youngster but now a full grown man with a performance worthy of emulation on the big stage once again. Against Liverpool, Kai created 5 chances and one of those chances on an average day would have resulted in an assist if only Pulisic had been more clinical.Kai’s willingness to run, work hard for the team and ability to link up well up top with other attackers stands him in good stead ahead of crucial matches coming up this season. Harvertz delivering good harvests!
Pulisic is too inconsistent
The game leading up to the final saw Christian Pulisic score a beautiful goal against Lille after a wonderful all round display against the French champions but that was the exact opposite of what happened when it mattered most in Wembley. The American star was given the nod alongside Mount and Kai following that awesome performance against Lille but he himself would have been disappointed with the sort of game he had at Wembley. Pulisic missed arguably the biggest chance of the game (Mount’s chance the other) after striking the ball directly against Kelleher when faced with the goalkeeper at an incredibly close range. Apart from his miss, the former Dortmund attacker was very minutely involved in proceedings unlike his fellow attackers who had a big impact on the game.He and Mount both had a game to forget but Mount’s excuse could be match rustiness after sitting out the last few games due to injuries. Pulisic has to regain the form of the 2019/2020 season ASAP!
Kepa seems unhappy
It was probably obvious to very few but I definitely saw glimpses of Kepa being unhappy after being dropped for the Carabão cup final. The Spanish goalie can feel entitled and showed his disappointment at not starting the game at Wembley. After similar circumstances in the Club World Cup, Kepa was dropped for the final after almost single-handedly bringing Chelsea to the final with brilliant performances all through the competition. On being summoned for the final seconds of the penalty shootouts, Kepa seemed unhappy and his otherwise great ability to save from 12 yards was put to dust by 11 beautiful kicks from the men in Red, only for Kepa to blast his kick into the stands after Kelleher had successfully kept his nerves in check to give Liverpool the victory.
Our already expensive attack needs refurbishing
In a match of very few opportunities, one pertinent thing to come out victorious is being CLINICAL.Chelsea lacked the most important ingredient for victory in a final after wasteful finishing inhibited success in Wembley. In the first hour, Pulisic and Mount showed why they aren’t considered elites after missing glaring opportunities to put Chelsea in the lead. Mount in particular was guilty of two very good opportunities which he spurned while Pulisic missed the biggest of them all from close range. After the substitution of both players, Tuchel introduced record signing Lukaku and German striker Timo Werner hoping for improvement in the final third. The improvements were very rarely visible with Timo Werner guilty of poor positioning after getting caught offside on a few occasions while Lukaku did have a rather good game with his goal unluckily ruled out for offside after he seemed at par with Virgil Van Dijk. Excluding Ziyech and Kai who have both shown in recent matches (Kai Still needs to perform against smaller sides) there has been little or no joy derived from Chelsea’s attackers. Long gone are the days of players like Eden Harzard where the fans were certain of having a player to grab the game at the scruff of the neck and taking the initiatives against opposing defenders. Chelsea’s attackers nowadays strike no fear in opposing defenders and the space vacated by the Belgian is still yet to be successfully occupied.
Tuchel is at the class of Jurgen and likes
Before the final, there would be little or no arguments about whether Tuchel was a good coach or not but after the intense battle between Tuchel and Klopp at Wembley, all doubts relating to that topic were quenched. Since Tuchel’s arrival in England, he’s played Klopp three times and never lost. He won the first meeting last season and the three meetings this season have ended in draws come the end of regulation time. His tactical ability when coming up against top coaches isn’t in question anymore and Tuchel has proven to be no pushover when it boils down to the most minute details in football matches.The only thing missing from the German mounting a sustained title challenge is a squad of consistent players. Chelsea can count themselves lucky of finally having a top coach since Conte.
