Mykhailo Mudryk needs time, but will Mauricio Pochettino afford him that?

The First game back after the international break is never a “straight-forward” fixture and with confidence low within the ranks at Cobham, another “decent” Chelsea performance ends in frustration for the blues with a goalless draw this afternoon at the Vitality stadium.

Here are 3 takeaways from the game;

Attack is evidently “toothless” :

It is somewhat hard to believe that a team that has spent about a billion pounds on transfers still doesn’t possess a key attacking threat.

Of all the attackers presently fit (Jackson, Mudryk, Sterling and Palmer), there isn’t a recognised goal scoring threat in the team. A team that has created 14 big chances (2nd in the league) this season and converting just 21% of those chances (18th in the league), accusing fingers are rightly being pointed at the strikers.

With new signing Nkunku and academy graduate Broja still on the sidelines (Broja back in training), Pochettino has lots of thinking and tinkering to do in order to find the right attacking/team balance.

Ugochukwu impressive on debut :

A surprise signing from Rennes for a figure around 30 million Euros, 19-year old French youth international, Lesley Ugochukwu benefited from Caicedo’s absence and got his first start in the league for Chelsea.

Playing as the deepest of the midfield three, Lesley looked the part as he kept his cool when in possession of the ball and also covered for his teammates brilliantly out of possession.

Mudryk needs time but can Chelsea afford him that? And will Pochettino give him that chance to build? :

A signing that helped fuel the ego of Chelsea fans after getting him off the claws of Arsenal, Mykhailo Mudryk has not lived up to the expectations of Stamford Bridge faithfuls.

Contributing just one assist since his debut last January against Liverpool, Mudryk as an extremely “raw” talent seems to be a major work and that begs for the question; Can Chelsea afford Mudryk the time he needs?

Many will argue that gametime and hands-on training are needed to unleash Mudryk’s evident talent while some feel he only needs the trust of the coach to blossom.

Either arguments are valid but the big question is if Mudryk could be afforded the game time and coaching he needs to flourish at Chelsea, and if Pochettino can deliver that coaching.

Prior to this game, Pochettino had favored playing Ben Chilwell as a winger ahead of the Ukrainian, leaving many fans furious as it was viewed that decision hampered Mudryk’s development.

Starting today at LW, Mudryk had an indifferent game with some excellent bits on show while his usual frustrating moments were also evident.

With the team garnering poor results, Pochettino is now under pressure to perform and time just might be too much of a luxury that cannot be afforded Mykhailo Mudryk, though, many will argue he should be able to build on those positive moments in today’s game.

Man of the match; Robert Sanchez: 8/10.

Next up for Chelsea is a home fixture against Aston Villa..