The World Cup is set to come to a conclusion with the final between Argentina and France today. Before that happens, let’s take a look at how Chelsea’s players have performed throughout this World Cup for their countries and who will be coming back to Graham Potter on a high and on a low.
NOTE : All writing was done live after the matches took place, this was a live review of each game of every Chelsea player. I came back and edited the standings of each team later on. (I.E, England getting knocked out by France was obviously not wrote before Mount and Sterling’s first game review)
England : Knocked out by France in the Quarter Final
Raheem Sterling :
Raheem comes into the World Cup on the back of many subpar performances for Chelsea with online criticism a regular occurrence before, during and after matches.
VS Iran : Sterling was handed a key role by Gareth Southgate just like previous tournaments and started off with a goal and assist vs Iran in a 6-2 demolition. In this match, Sterling completed 2/3 dribbles but was not fouled once and only won 2/7 of his ground duels.
VS USA : Unfortunately Sterling didn’t really deliver anything threatening in match 2 vs USA and Christian Pulisic stole the show coming away with the MOTM even though the game ended 0-0. Sterling was deployed at LW but lacked 1v1 threat and creativity. Sterling failed to register a single shot in 66 mins and was taken off by Gareth Southgate.
VS Wales : Unused substitute
VS Senegal : Travelled back to England due to family matters, did not feature in this match.
We wish Raheem all the best, reports suggest that his house in London was burgled.
VS France – Quarter Final : Raheem returned to England training on Friday having been satisfied that his family were safe back in London following the now confirmed burglary of his house in which over 300,000 pounds worth of watches were stolen.
Raheem did not start the match as probably everyone could predict having not trained in days and unfortunately he did little to impact the game coming on in the 79th minute at RW. With England 2-1 down heading into the final 10 minutes, they had to push and they did but Sterling was hardly involved with his highlight being an overhit cross into Lloris’s hands.
Not the best of World cup’s for Raheem, a good performance in the first match vs Iran in which he scored was probably his highlight as we mentioned Pulisic outshining him in the game against the USA while being handed bench roles in matches vs Wales and France, but we must take into account that it was a disrupted and stressful ending to his journey in Qatar with more important matters to take care of back home during the period of the Senegal match and most of the week leading up to France.
Mason Mount :
Mason, like Sterling, is another player coming off the back of criticism from Chelsea fans over his inconsistent performances this season and he will hope this tournament breeds new life and finds himself back at his old form and brings the trophy back to England.
VS Iran : Mount started off his tournament with a fine display against Iran as a number #8 as Southgate ditched the 3-4-3 and deployed a more attacking 4-3-3. Mason thrived in this role becoming a key man linking the midfield to the attack whilst Bellingham had the licence to travel forward and make late runs into the box which led to England’s opening goal of the World Cup as he soared above the defenders and headed home.
Mount completed an impressive 32/36 passes with 3/3 long balls and 7/9 ground duels won against Iran.
VS USA : Game 2 couldn’t be any more of the opposite of game 1 for Mason, he was met with criticism from thousands across different fan bases for his performance against the USA. Mason said after the game that England lacked “A little bit of technical ability in the final third with that final pass or shot to create a chance” but this quote came across extremely ironic as he should have replaced England with “I” as Mason failed to produce any creativity in the final third even though he was deployed as an attacking midfielder in Southgate’s 4-2-3-1. Fans and pundits called for Foden to be introduced but Mount played all 90 minutes instead and it was a day to forget for Mason.
It didn’t help his case that reports came out over the last couple of weeks of him demanding around £300,000 per week to extend his Chelsea contract.
VS Wales : Unused substitute
VS Senegal – R0.16 tie : Mason was on the bench again though did come on in the 75th minute of this match as a fresh legs option for Jude Bellingham with England 3-0 up and on the verge of eliminating Senegal from the World Cup.
Mount only had a total of 5 touches in these 15 minutes and was pretty non existent but it’s not like England were chasing the game, he put a shift in when it was needed in this match and one can imagine this was mainly the instruction by Gareth Southgate.
VS France – Quarter Final: Mason remained on the bench as Gareth Southgate went with the exact same eleven that produced the brilliant display against Senegal. Mount fans were probably starving at this point for something good to come their way at this stage of the World cup having been hit with the bench role against Senegal and Wales previously.
They got their wish, Jude Bellingham picked out a lovely ball over the top to the on running Mount who was clattered down by Theo Hernandez inside the box, after a VAR Review, the referee awarded a penalty to England in the 81st minute, just 2 minutes after Mason entered the pitch.
Kane had the chance for his brace and the opportunity to take it into extra time but blew the penalty way over the bar as France went on to see out the game.
A disappointing world cup personally for Mount however Graham Potter will be happy in some senses that he has a very fresh and probably motivated Mount heading back to Chelsea.
Conor Gallagher :
VS Iran – Unused substitute
VS USA – Unused substitute
VS Wales – Unused substitute
VS Senegal – Unused substitute
VS France – Unused substitute
A disappointing world cup on a personal level for Conor but no doubt he would have enjoyed the experience at least.
Senegal : Knocked out by England in RO.16
Edouard Mendy :
Mendy enters this world cup having lost his starting spot to Kepa Arrizabalaga, if he wants to have a chance at regaining that back, then he needs to show in this world cup what he is made of because we all know that he has the ability still in there somewhere.
VS Netherlands : A nightmare season for Mendy looks to be continuing, making 2 huge mistakes in a 2-0 loss against Netherlands in the opening match of Group A. Mendy rushed out of his goal from a cross and was beaten to the ball by Cody Gakpo before palming a weak shot straight to Davy Klaasen for a tap in to continue the nightmare.
VS Qatar : Mendy was kept in goal for this game against hosts Qatar despite the errors against Netherlands and rewarded his manager’s faith with a huge stop to stop Qatar pulling a goal back and making it 2-1. Mendy did concede as the game ended 3-1 to Senegal but there was nothing he could do as a bullet header flew into the corner from Muntari.
An overall positive response to a nightmare first game and a performance Mendy will hope to build upon.
VS Ecuador : A mixed game for Edouard Mendy but he will have left this on a high after Senegal qualified for the knockout stage and set up a tie against England due to their 2-1 win against Ecuador.
Mendy made 3 saves and wasn’t at fault for the Ecuador goal, but he did have some alarmingly worrying stats in terms of his use of his feet. Mendy in this game completed just 3/17 long passes giving him an accuracy rate of just 18% and only made 12/26 accurate passes overall in the game.
In fact, according to Futmob which we are using for all our data in this article, Mendy has 15/41 accurate long balls this tournament, a worrying statistic considering he has come under major scrutiny for his short passing for Chelsea, is his long passing any better either?
VS England : This game against England proved to be the end of the road for Mendy’s country. Despite not having much to do in the opening 35 minutes, England scored a quick fire counter attack goal just minutes later which Mendy arguably could have reached and saved. Harry Kane fired a shot past Mendy from a 1v1 situation to make it two whilst arguably his only bad moment of the game was going down to the ground too early from a cross which resulted in Bukayo Saka lifting the ball over and past him for the third and final goal.
Mendy throughout the tournament still displayed distribution issues and awkwardness whilst playing out the back. Overall from making the reviews on him and watching every Senegal match, I am still not convinced he can be Chelsea’s long term number 1 and I am even less convinced he can improve his distribution enough to hit the required level and impress Graham Potter.
Ecuador and Qatar proved little goal threat, it feels like whenever Mendy faces opposition with attacking threat, you can’t rely on him to bail you out anymore like Chelsea used to be able to under the first few months of Thomas Tuchel’s reign.
Kalidou Koulibaly :
I think it would be fair to say that Kalidou will be entering this tournament having not been able to enjoy a good start at Chelsea. There have been signs of the Napoli Koulibaly but there have also been a lot of occasions where he has been too rash or out of position costing Chelsea goals. A debate many Chelsea fans have is if Kalidou actually suits playing as a wide centre back in the preferred formation (3-43) of both former manager Thomas Tuchel and current manager Graham Potter. Kalidou will almost certainly be back to playing in a back 4 here in Qatar.
VS Netherlands: Kalidou started off the tournament in a good way with a solid performance in a back 4 with his top stat coming out to be the fact he completed 8 clearances in the match, 4 of which being headers. Despite losing 2-0, Kalidou was one of the more impressive Senegal players and looked way more comfortable playing in a back 4 than he does in Graham Potter’s 3-4-3 as a wide LCB.
VS Qatar: A pretty solid second match for the Chelsea defender up until the 78th minute when Muntari rose above him to produce that header we spoke about already past Edouard Mendy. One of the things I’ve noticed about Kalidou since joining Chelsea is his ability to play long range passes. In the opening 2 games for Senegal however, Kalidou only completed 11/24 total long balls. The intent is there to mix up ways of ball progression, but the accuracy could’ve been better.
VS Ecuador : Koulibaly produced one of the best displays from a defender in the tournament so far in this game. He scored the winning goal to send Senegal through to the knockouts with a fantastic volley but it was his defensive performance that earned him the MOTM and doing so became the 3rd player from Chelsea to pick up the award.
Kalidou’s stats vs Ecuador :
• 2/4 tackles won
• 10 clearances
• 2 Interceptions
• 5 Recoveries
• 7/7 Ground duels won
• 3/5 Aerial duels won
• 0 fouls committed
He was the rock for Senegal as they survived huge waves of Ecuador pressure. England will hope he doesn’t have this type of performance in the RO.16 tie.
VS England : Kalidou had a tough game in defence as England blew away Senegal with some moments of brilliance. He could’ve arguably came across faster to stop Phil Foden’s ball to Bukayo Saka for the third goal and as I mentioned in the review of Koulibaly in the Qatar match, his long passing wasn’t very good and I am picking up on this as I personally really enjoyed that aspect of his game in the first few games of his Chelsea career.
In this match, he only completed 4/14 long passes and only had a total pass accuracy of 67% which is poor for a centre back of his level. Not usually a weakness, it’s concerning that Kalidou’s passing seemed to be one his main weaknesses throughout this tournament.
An incredible captain’s performance against Ecuador to help his country get into the knockout stage but the Chelsea lads fell short in performance in their first knockout game against an England side that have the ability and spirit to go all the way.
Kalidou will be hoping to build some consistency under Graham Potter and personally I would like to see him start in a 4 at the back formation at Chelsea instead of being tasked with defending the wide spaces as a LCB in a 3 at the back. Maximising your players key abilities and hiding the weaknesses is one of a manager’s key tasks.
USA : Knocked out by Netherlands in RO.16
Christian Pulisic
A player that probably has deserved more starts over the course of his Chelsea career, Christian Pulisic needs to put a statement towards Graham Potter this tournament. If Pulisic has a good world cup, he will leave knowing he has done his best and put himself in the best possible spot to really reignite his Chelsea career.
VS Wales : Mr Captain America, or not? Pulisic was no longer going into the tournament as captain after his teammates voted Leeds man Tyler Adams to take over the reigns in Qatar. Despite this, Pulisic was clearly the man USA were relying on to get them results as the Americans constantly gave Pulisic the ball in hopes of a moment of magic vs Wales. As it went, Pulisic grabbed a lovely assist to set up Weah in the opening match but some of his other play was questionable and the match ended 1-1.
He was dispossed 5 times, won only 4/11 of his ground duels and astonishingly only had 1/13 accurate crosses leaving many feeling he didn’t have a good match.
VS England : As I said in my section speaking about Sterling vs USA, Christian was awarded the MOTM for his performance against England. In a game where there was such a lack of spark, invention and urgency, Pulisic really tried to make a statement carrying the ball and driving at Kieran Trippier, not only this, he linked up really well with his teammates and smashed the crossbar with a venomous shot that nearly beat Pickford.
It was a Pulisic performance that Chelsea fans including myself are dying to see more often, a player who looked unstoppable at times on the ball, a player who took authority on the ball and a player that looked confident in everything he did and wanted to prove a point perhaps against the country that has treated him negatively within the media at times.
After a poor first game, this is exactly the response his manager would have wanted, if he can impress for the remaining game/games and come back to Chelsea with this confidence on the ball, Graham Potter must give him a run in the side.
VS Iran : One of the criticisms of Pulisic is that perhaps at club level he doesn’t build on good performances but he certainly did build on his MOTM game vs England against Iran. Christian scored the winning goal in a 1-0 win against Iran to set up a R0.16 clash against Netherlands.
Pulisic showed elite box movement and awareness to bundle home a cross from the right hand side. Unfortunately he had to be taken to hospital with abdominal issues due to the clash with Iran’s Goalkeeper during the goal.
He had to be substituted at half time due to the pain caused, but still had an impressive 2 chances created, 3/5 ground duels and 2/2 dribbles. Christian is Chelsea’s best performing attacker at the World Cup and someone Graham potter should have an eagle eye on.
Hopefully he will be fit for the R0.16 match.
VS Netherlands: Pulisic was indeed fit which was good to see as his injury to his abdominal area looked really bad. Unfortunately for Christian and the USA, it seemed like a tournament too early for them. Lots of talent and potential around the team but Netherlands experience proved too much. USA found it very hard to break down the Netherlands back 5 and constantly looked to Pulisic to be that man to try and open them up.
Christian had a beautiful 1v1 chance which was saved within the opening minutes but the states found themselves down 2-0 at half time. Pulisic created 4 chances but couldn’t find a way to score past the rock solid Netherlands defence as the US proved to be tactically outclassed by Van Gaal.
Christian should be happy with his tournament overall, he looked confident and was regularly skipping past players and creating chances which Chelsea have lacked in the recent weeks before the World Cup.
Despite one of the surprising negatives of his World Cup being his poor crossing success rate, Pulisic has shown he deserves way more starts at club level than he is currently getting, there’s a very talented player in there and the performances from Christian in Qatar leave Graham potter with a dilemma over who starts the first game back on the left wing between Pulisic and Sterling.
Wales : Group stage exit
Ethan Ampadu :
Ethan is once again out on loan this season in Italy at Spezia so I was intrigued to see how he played considering the fact that I don’t follow Serie A much unless it’s AC Milan to watch potential future signing Rafael Leao.
VS USA : Ampadu featured primarily in a 3-4-3 as the sitting #6, something that Thomas Tuchel tried a couple of times in pre pre-season. Against the USA, he was one of Wales’ better players, battling against the midfield 3 of USA. He won 5/9 of his duels, made 5 recoveries, only committed 2 fouls, won 100% of his tackles and completed 5/7 long balls, he was overall very good on the ball and looked comfortable in the pivot however there will always be a debate between Chelsea fans at least whether this is his best position or if Centre-Back suits his attributes more.
VS Iran : A 2-0 loss and being subbed in the 77th minute wouldn’t be good reading off the face of it if you were a Ethan Ampadu fan but I just feel like Wales as a team are so far off World Cup quality that Ethan is limited as to how much he can express himself and stand out. 2 blocks, 2 interceptions, 2 clearances and 5 recoveries isn’t bad statistics and none of the final result was Ethan’s fault, a shame he doesn’t represent a higher quality country, really.
VS England : Another loss for Wales, this time 3-0 at the hands of England which meant it was time to head back to Italy for Ethan.
As for his performance, it was “Okay” and I think that would describe his World Cup and him as a player to be honest, he has never quite moved the needle to break into the Chelsea team but he is a lot better than some of his loan move outcomes have suggested which often leads fans getting excited every pre season over his potential inclusion in the seasons squad.
Against England he did show aggression and fight and considering Wales had to win to even get a chance of qualifying, he showed more desire than some of the other Welsh players including Gareth Bale who was subbed at half time due to “Injury”.
One of the main problems for Ethan will always be nailing down a set position but it’s clear to see what Rob Page thinks as he played Ethan in a pivot in all 3 games.
Croatia : Knocked out by Argentina in the Semi final
Mateo Kovacic :
Mateo knows full well coming into this tournament the fact that he is one of Croatia’s key players but the issue is Graham Potter confirmed after Newcastle that Mateo has had a knee injury that he has been playing through and dealing with, a testament to his bravery and dedication to Chelsea but I am a bit worried about the amount of minutes he could potentially play in Qatar.
VS Morocco : There was not much to talk about this game as Mateo started in a 0-0 stalemate against teammate Hakim Ziyech. Mateo had an average game but came out with 4 recoveries and was fouled twice. Overall, a very boring game where even the likes of Luka Modric couldn’t make the difference.
VS Canada : Potentially one of the best individual performances of the tournament so far, Mateo produced an amazing midfield display alongside Brozovic and Modric, his ability to make space, receive the ball and drive through Canada’s midfield must have gave their manager a tactical headache as Croatia ran riot after going behind to end up 4-1 victors.
Just in 45 minutes, Kovacic produced ridiculous numbers :
• 100% pass accuracy (30/30)
• 2 chances created
• 4/4 tackles won
• 6 recoveries
• 5/5 ground duels won
• 0 fouls committed
It’s not just his ability to dribble and progress the ball, it’s his hard work to cover ground and track runners, this was evident by winning every single defensive duel in the first half alongside 4 tackles.
Statisticians OptaJoe provided this mind blowing information at full time :
“Mateo Kovačić made five tackles and created four chances against Canada, while maintaining a passing accuracy of 93%, the last player to match or surpass each stat in a single World Cup game was Lothar Matthäus 32 years ago for Germany against Yugoslavia in 1990”
VS Belgium : Kovacic was once again a starter in the usual 3 man midfield which also includes Luka Modric and Marcelo Brozovic and he helped his side see out a 0-0 draw against Belgium which unfortunately eliminated the Red Devils and former blue Eden Hazard.
Mateo produced a fantastic pass accuracy % of 91 and was fouled 3 times as he showed off his ability to skip past the opponents press and play the ball into more dangerous areas. Unfortunately, Mateo didn’t have the same effect as the last game as Belgium had the majority of the ball leaving Kova and Croatia having to sit deeper to defend more and have less opportunities to show their ability on the ball.
Kova did have arguably one of the best chances of the game for Croatia however, he found himself on the edge of the box and curled a beauty into what was looking like the roof of the net only to be denied by a fabulous save from former blue Courtois.
Kova will be happy with his group stage performances overall, but will want to improve on some defensive aspects, during this game he didn’t win a tackle and only made 1 interception, we all know he can do more as he shows for Chelsea time and time again he can do the dirty work when required and isn’t just all about the flashy technical ability.
VS Japan – R016 tie : A fourth start in a row for Mateo as Croatia progressed onto the quarter finals via penalties, Mateo played 99 minutes before being subbed off.
Japan were tough and pressed very well, Mateo contributed more defensively than going forward completing 4 tackles and winning ⅝ of his duels. Interestingly Modric lost the ball 17 times and won MOTM compared to Kovacic’s 12 whilst also being dribbled past more and making less tackles.
Not the most influential of games from Mateo but he has played 353 minutes across 4 matches so far so I’m not surprised that he isn’t unbelievable every game.
VS Brazil – Quarter Final : Mateo played 115 minutes before being subbed off and produced an incredible display as Croatia went onto knockout tournament favourites Brazil. Mateo, Modric and Brozovic absolutely dominated the Brazilian midfield with Kovacic being at the heart of everything good Croatia did going forward and also defensively.
Mateo won 8/14 total duels, made 4 tackles, completed 4 long balls, 8 recoveries and won 3 fouls.
A total of 458 minutes and counting will worry some Chelsea fans considering Kovacic’s iffy injury record but none can doubt his excellence on the pitch, Brazil couldn’t get near him today.
VS Argentina – Semi Final : Another start for Mateo as he went into this match looking to help his side towards back to back World Cup finals. As it went, Lionel Messi on his own had too much for Croatia but Mateo did play a good game, full of energy, he left Messi and two other Argentina players on the floor in the first half with a mesmerising run but unfortunately there were moments in the match where he failed to execute the final pass which also does cost Chelsea on occasions.
The most impressive thing so far about Kovacic in this tournament for is the amount of times he has won the midfield battle, of course Modric and Brozovic were important but Kovacic for me deserved more praise than Modric, I feel he doesn’t get it because he plays for Chelsea and not Real Madrid anymore. In this match he won 10/15 of his ground duels and made 4 tackles whilst completing 2/3 long balls and 3 dribbles.
Kova has one more game to potentially play which will be the third placed play off on Saturday but I personally hope he doesn’t feature as he has started all 5 games in a row, playing minutes in extra time twice.
VS Morocco – 3rd place play off :
I can’t quite believe Mateo has managed to start all 7 games Croatia have played at the World Cup but it just goes to show his importance in the midfield for Croatia. Mateo performed really well in this match as Croatia won 2-1 and took home the bronze medal.
Statistically, Mateo in this match was the player who won the most duels, tackles and made the most accurate passes out of anyone on either side and he could have capped off his performance with a goal but unfortunately his shooting deficiencies came into play again as he sliced a shot wide of the post from a tight angle.
It remains to be seen whether or not Kovacic will have to have surgery on the current knee injury but everyone at club and fan level will be hoping he doesn’t. Unsurprisingly, Mateo did admit to local media after the last match against Argentina that he was “Knackered” from this tournament so perhaps Conor Gallagher or Carney Chukwuemeka could see more chances for the first few games of Chelsea’s return.
A big congrats to Mateo on making it this far over the last two world cups with Croatia and also his consistently brilliant performances especially in this tournament.
Morocco : Knocked out by France in Semi-Final
Hakim Ziyech :
One of Graham Potter’s outcasts, Hakim Ziyech comes into the tournament having hardly played any minutes under Chelsea’s new coach. It’s a chance to prove perhaps why he should’ve been playing more but on the flip slide it could come as a chance for Chelsea to potentially set a decent price tag for a move away if he has a good World Cup.
VS Croatia : One of Morocco’s key men, Ziyech did little to impact the match which ended 0-0 completing only 61% of his passes, 0/2 dribbles and 0/3 accurate crosses. Ziyech also only won 4/11 of his ground duels and completed only 2/5 long balls which was surprising as his switches of play are usually something that you get wowed by.
VS Belgium : Hakim was the best player on the pitch as Morocco recorded a famous 2-1 win over Belgium, he came away with the official MOTM award and was the centre of everything good Morocco did whether that be pressing from the front to force errors/tracking back to give Belgium no time to breathe, creating, linking up with teammates or making runs in behind, he did it all.
Ziyech thought he opened the scoring with a set piece from the left hand side which went all the way past the players in the box to beat Thibaut Courtois however the goal was disallowed for offside.
He didn’t let this get his head down though as he went on and continued his fine game topping it off with a lovely skill before a cut back assist for Morocco’s 2nd goal of the 2-0 victory. He created 2 chances and had a decent ground duel success rate of 57% (9/16) but as I mentioned before, his defensive work rate impressed me the most, he completed 3/3 tackles and made 5 recoveries during the game.
VS Canada : Hakim Ziyech ended off the group stage with another great performance and he really seems to be thriving for Morocco, his manager said after the last game that “If you show love to ziyech and trust him, he will reward you” and he certainly is doing that, he is morocco’s key man just like he was at Ajax and is delivering, he lobbed the Canadian goalkeeper in this match to make it 1-0 and was good throughout the rest of the match as Morocco ended up finishing first in group F due to a 2-1 win against Canada.
Ziyech was also involved in the dirty work, relentlessly pressing for his team making 5 recoveries, 2 tackles and an interception. Despite only winning 5/11 ground duels, the intent was there and he’s a vastly different player in the national team to the one we see at Chelsea.
Perhaps Graham Potter should give him more of a chance when Chelsea return on December 27th, although it could also be seen as a peak opportunity to cash in on the man dubbed as the Moroccan wizard with a potential move to AC Milan on the cards.
VS Spain – RO.16 tie : Wow! Just wow! Hakim Ziyech put an absolute shift in as Morocco defeated Spain on penalties after 120 minutes of deadlock. If you just looked at the stats you’d assume it was a poor performance but the work rate defensively was more important than chance creation in this match. Spain had an extraordinary 77% of the ball and the fact that Ziyech’s average position on the eye looked more like a defensive RWB, it just goes to show how much Morocco were pushed back by the Spaniards.
Hakim scored his penalty in the shootout to make it 2-0 whilst goalkeeper Bono made 2 saves before Hakimi chipped the winner.
You can put this down as 3 good performances in a row by Hakim and as mentioned in the review of his last game, Todd Boehly and Potter have a big decision on their hands in regards to his future.
VS Portugal – Quarter Final : Morocco’s incredible world cup continued with a 1-0 victory over potential tournament favourites Portugal. Hakim Ziyech joined the rest of his teammates in putting in a dogged performance defensively as they shut out the likes of Joao Felix, Rafa Leao and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Not too much happened in terms of attacking play from Ziyech this game as he lasted 82 minutes before the Moroccan manager brought on some fresh legs as Morocco tried to hit Portugal on the break during their waves of pressure.
A little surprisingly Hakim only completed 1/5 crosses in the match but just like the Spain match, I felt he had to sacrifice his attacking play and chance creation ability for hard work defensively which he has been doing to a high level all tournament.
Hakim will play France for a once in a lifetime shot at the world cup in the final.
VS France – Semi Final: A statement World Cup in terms of performances from Ziyech came to an end as many pre predicted against France. Hakim did not deliver the moments of magic needed when his country needed him the most.
On occasions he combined well with Hakimi down the right hand side but there were no real dangerous crosses, shots or dribbles and he looked rather predictable every time he got on the ball which Chelsea fans get the feeling of a lot. Hakim’s inability to use his right foot really hampers him, the top level defenders defend Hakim in a way where he struggles and when you don’t have blistering pace or skills to get out of these situations, it often leads to an over hit pass or cross or even getting pounced on, losing possession.
Hakim can be incredibly proud of his previous displays, especially with the defensive work he put in for his country but ultimately I think Chelsea still need to cash in when they receive an offer as he has too many deficiencies to succeed in English football.
VS Croatia – 3rd Place play off :
Considering Hakim was also likely knackered being the Chelsea player with the second most amount of minutes after Mateo, I thought he played reasonably well. One thing I’ve noticed during this tournament is his consistently important link up with Achraf Hakimi. Perhaps Graham Potter should look at taking advantage of his ability to link up well with a right back by giving him more starts alongside Reece James in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1.
Hakim completed 5 dribbles, 4 long balls and won a total of 6 duels in this match but didn’t register a goal or assist and will come back to Cobham with a fourth placed finish in his pocket.
A better tournament than a lot expected individually from Hakim considering his lack of club gametime and he can be very proud of how far he helped Morocco come from the first Matchday.
Germany – Group stage exit!
Chelsea fans don’t really know where to stand with Kai Havertz still despite this being his third season at the club. What we can say with absolute certainty is that a long run at the world cup will do his confidence the world of good ahead of the second half of the season. Furthermore, Kai is known for starting the first half of his club seasons slowly whilst the second halves tend to produce better performances and numbers.
Kai Havertz :
VS Japan : It wasn’t a good start to the tournament for Germany as Kai led the line in a 2-1 loss to Japan and his performance in this match was reminiscent of most of his time at Chelsea. I sat there during the game wondering what he is actually doing, whether he would be better off moving into another position or if he is just actually not as good as we thought when we purchased him for £72m. Kai will always have the champions league final goal and therefore be etched into Chelsea history forever but for a player with so much “talent” it is not shown enough.
Kai had just 27 touches in 79 minutes with 1 shot during those minutes. He created 1 chance but I expected more from him and was left disappointed. To Japan’s credit, they played very well, pressed aggressively and caught Germany by surprise in my opinion, but that doesn’t excuse Kai’s lack of authority imposed on the match, he’s young, but needs to do more throughout the game and be a threat, even if he isn’t, press, work hard, link up play.
VS Spain – Unused substitute
VS Costa Rica : INCREDIBLE! Little did they know before the match, this would be Germany’s final game at the tournament. Japan beating Spain meant that both of those teams ended up qualifying.
Kai Havertz produced his best display of the tournament by far, he was subbed on in minute 66 to replace Muller as the lone #9 and bagged 2 quick close range goals to level the game up at 2-2 much to the frustration of everyone on social media who was hoping for a Costa Rica and Japan upset.
Germany ended up winning 4-2 but it meant nothing due to Japan’s shocking win over Spain. Kai left with the MOTM and overall it is quite hard to judge his tournament as he was benched in the second match, the sample size is small for Kai this tournament but he needs to kick on with Graham Potter for the remainder of this season or you feel harsh decisions might be taken in the summer with his future.
Only 23 yes, but this is his 3rd full season at Chelsea and his premier league performances overall so far have been nowhere reminiscent of the talent Chelsea signed from Leverkusen for £72m.
With Christopher Nkunku and other attacking signings set to come in, one must wonder where Kai Havertz fits into all of this, if at all.
Spain : Knocked out by Morocco in the R0.16
Cesar Azpilicueta :
Kepa Arrizabalaga missed out on the squad with injury but ever present Azpilicueta headed off to Qatar to try and win the World Cup with Spain, Chelsea’s long serving right back does not get as many minutes as he would like anymore but never complains and for that I will always respect him.
VS Costa Rica: Azpilicueta created 3 chances which ended in a 7-0 demolition in favour of Cesar’s country. Not only this, he hit ⅘ accurate long balls and made 4 recoveries. Playing as a RB in a back 4, he was important in the rare moments that Spain did have to defend.
VS Germany – Unused substitute
VS Japan : Cesar played well in the minutes he had in this game, I say that because he was strangely subbed by Luis Enrique at half time and replaced by Carvajal, as it turned out, Spain conceded in the 48th and 51st minute as the Japanese went on to win 2-1.
When you look at the stats of Cesar, it makes the decision to sub him even more strange. In 45 minutes, he had 97% pass accuracy, 6 passes into the final 3rd, ⅔ duels won with ¾ accurate long balls.
Perhaps Luis Enrique saw something I didn’t, it’s very likely of course, Luis is one of the best coaches in the world and I haven’t even got a qualification for coaching! Nevertheless, Cesar can be happy individually with his performances so far and he will hope to be trusted more in the R0.16 clash with Morocco.
VS Morocco – RO.16 tie – Unused substitute :
Wow, no words, Cesar Azpilicueta wasn’t even used in this match in the whole 120 minutes, what was apparent to me was Morata struggling with crosses in this match, who’s the player that has a great connection with him from crosses since the Chelsea days? Cesar Azpilicueta.. no explanation from Enrique despite good performances from Chelsea’s Captain in a back 4 as a RB. Tournament over for Cesar in ugly fashion.
Brazil: Knocked out by Croatia in the Quarter final!
Thiago Silva :
Ever present at the heart of the Brazil defence for several years, this was Thiago’s fourth world cup and If it was not for me being English, I would be rooting for them because such a legendary career deserves the biggest trophy of them all.
VS SERBIA : Silva started off with an incredible performance in a back 4 with Marquinhos as Brazil beat Serbia 2-0. At the end of the match, BBC Sport commentators said : “He’s just strolled his way through another game, what is he, 38 years old? It’s quite remarkable but we see it every week in the premier league anyway”
It was not a surprise to see the word “strolled” being used, this is the feeling I get also when Thiago plays for us, he makes defending effortless more often than not.
Silva’s stats vs Serbia :
• 93% pass accuracy
• 4/6 long balls
• 6 passes into final 3rd
• 2/4 duels won
• 7 recoveries
• 0 fouls made
• 0 times dribbled past
VS Switzerland: Thiago contributed once again to a flawless defensive performance as Brazil beat Switzerland 1-0. After the game, Manchester United legend and now pundit Gary Neville praised Thiago by saying “ I Don’t know how Thiago Silva at his age is still pushing up that pitch. To get in front of your forward all the time, to try and win it, is one of the hardest that you try and do – he’s still doing that late into his thirties – it’s unbelievable”
Brazil haven’t conceded a shot on target so far in the World Cup and the partnership between Silva and Marquinhos has been nothing short of amazing. Silva clocked a 94% pass accuracy in this match whilst also making 4 clearances, winning 3/5 of his duels and hitting 6/9 accurate long passes. Not a bad moment for Thiago in Qatar so far.
VS Cameroon – Unused substitute
VS South Korea – RO.16 tie : One of the most dominant attacking displays of the tournament for Brazil meant Thiago didn’t have much to do in this game as Brazil stormed to a 4-1 victory.
Although not tested defensively, he won all of his duels (3/3) and made a beautiful assist with a first time pass to Richarlison near the edge of the box before the Spurs forward slotted home.
With this assist, he became the oldest player in World Cup history to get an assist since stats were formed in 1966.
The assist: https://twitter.com/theathleticfc/status/1599850009662464000?s=46&t=ByMaHbHeH0vQ5FGN5BQooQ
VS Croatia – Quarter final
As I mentioned in Kovacic’s review of this game, Brazil shockingly got knocked out in this game. Despite this, Thiago Silva was incredible. AGAIN.
Whilst Marquinhos missed the penalty which sent Brazil out and was at fault with a deflected shot which led to the Croatia equaliser at 1-1 in the 115th minute, Silva calmly strolled through a game which was one of the most intense of the tournament.
Key anticipation to get ahead of Croatia attackers before something happened, switches of play (¾) to mix up the Brazil attack, winning duels (4/6) or making tackles and interceptions (3 in total), Silva was an immovable force and played all 120 minutes which is incredible in itself for a man who is 38 years old.
A painful ending for Thiago in his final World Cup but 3 top level performances against Serbia, Switzerland and Croatia with an amazing assist and another assured performance against South Korea means he could be well in the conversation for Chelsea’s best performer at the World Cup. O Monstro!
Chelsea player stats from Qatar 2022 :
- Most minutes played :
Mateo Kovacic – 638
Hakim Ziyech – 548
Thiago Silva – 390
Edouard Mendy & Koulibaly – 360
Christian Pulisic – 315
Ethan Ampadu – 256
Mason Mount – 186
Raheem Sterling – 150
César Azpilicueta – 135
- Most goals scored – Havertz (2), Pulisic (1), Ziyech (1)
- Most chances created – Pulisic (9) Kovacic (8) Ziyech (6)
- Most MOTM awards – Pulisic, (2)
- Pass completion % –
Azpilicueta – 94.50% (Only played 135 minutes so context has to be taken into account with this statistic)
Kovacic – 90.20%
Mount – 83.60% (Only played 186 minutes so again, context)
Sterling – 81.80% (Only played 150 minutes)
Koulibaly – 76.10%
Ampadu – 75%
Mendy – 73.30%
Ziyech – 69%
Pulisic – 58.90%
- Least dribbled past – Silva and Azpilicueta (0) (Azpilicueta only played 135 minutes whilst Silva started 4/5 games)
- Dribbles completed stats – Kovacic (8/14), Ziyech (7/19), Pulisic (4/10), Sterling (2/3)
- Mendy saved 50% of shots faced, and 1.6 less than PSxg (Post shot XG) expected him to save.
