Here are five lessons learned from Chelsea’s win at the Selhurst park.
✓ Aubameyang Gets Underway :
Former Arsenal striker Pierre Emerick Aubameyang got his first Chelsea goal for Chelsea after making a summer move from Barcelona to Stamford Bridge. Aubameyang made a quick swivel after Silva won the first ball to brilliantly place the ball into the corner.
Despite a quiet first half from the Gabon international, Aubameyang came to life after his goal, constantly drifting wide to link up either Mount or Chilwell and other times dropping into the midfield to get touches of the ball. With his first goal now in the bag, it remains to be seen if Aubameyang gets back to the predatory form shown during his time at London rivals, Arsenal.
✓ Solid Recce James :
Not many defenders come out on top when faced with a mix of tricky, pace and power, all of which Crystal Palace’s Wilfred Zaha possesses in abundance. With Potter playing a back four against Palace, RJ was tasked with stopping Zaha and he did that brilliantly, often frustrating Zaha before Viera switched it up and had Zaha face Chilwell instead. James had a total of 9 recoveries, 1 clearance and interception each while wining 4 of his 7 ground duels.
James also showed how much of a weapon he harbors when attacking as he recorded a 95% pass accuracy with 12 of his passes into the final third and creating further 2 chances. Of all the stats garnered by Recce James today at Selhurst Park, his 0 fouls committed remains a miracle considering the quality of his opposition in Wilfred Zaha.
James will hope to remain fit and continue his awesome form as the season progresses.
✓ Silva in a back four :
In a public interview now of former Chelsea coach, Thomas Tuchel, the German did make it known how much distress it is for Silva to track players heading out of his “comfort zone” in the center of the defence. With Potter favoring a back four or a hybrid back three, Thiago Silva has often been left exposed with little or no support often coming his way during transitions.
With opponents now pin-pointing Silva as a weakness when in transitions, Potter might have to rethink and adapt to finding more support for Silva. His lack of pace is also a huge worry when facing counter attacks and with how much important Thiago is to how Chelsea progresses the ball from the back (15/18 completed long balls), Potter cannot afford to keep him out of the side.
✓ Sterling’s Indecisiveness :
With his dribbling often creating chances for himself and his teammates, Raheem Sterling has often let down himself and fans alike with his poor decision at times this season.
Another poor decision of such nature was evident when Sterling got Doucoure of Palace to lay on his back side but took too long before setting the ball up for Chilwell who blasted over.
Raheem sure has done well since coming in but there still remains a lot he could offer.
✓ Gap-ridden Midfield :
For the duration of the game where Jorginho and Kovaciç occupied the midfield, Palace always looked dangerous in transition with both Olise and Eze sometimes just strolling past the duo of Kovaciç and Jorginho.
The ease at which Palace strolled last the Chelsea midfield made Potter switch things up after the break as he went to a flat midfield three without the ball before RLC came on for Jorginho to have both himself and Kovaciç in a 4-2-3-1 with the wining goal scorer Gallagher coming on to play just ahead of the both deeper midfielders.
Potter and Chelsea sure can’t wait to have Kante back but in the meantime, he has to find a solution to the evident midfield imbalance.
Man of the Match; Recce James; 8/10.
Chelsea next game is the crucial tie against AC Milan in the UCL with progression at stake for the blues if they fail to record a win and results else way go against them.
