Chelsea are off and running in the Club World Cup after a 2-0 win over first-time opponents LAFC.
Despite the win, the clear need for a new attacker couldn’t be more obvious once again.
The Club World Cup has given a refreshing new setup for fans to sink their teeth into.
Chelsea and their English counterparts in the competition, Manchester City, were given a head start in the transfer window this season due to their involvement.
However, the lack of activity from Chelsea’s sporting directors has been alarming, and while the addition of Liam Delap is helpful as seen by his wonderful assist for Enzo Fernandez, there are still massive holes in the team that haven’t been addressed.
The person I’m putting the spotlight on for this game is Noni Madueke.
Madueke, since joining from PSV in January 2023, has shown signs of real improvement mostly on the right wing.
But in this match he had the job of occupying the left wing for Chelsea, a position he is no stranger to after being utilised there multiple times by Enzo Maresca over the course of last season.
But as we’ve often seen with Noni in this position, it was clear he is not the right fit for it.
His performance saw him attempt three dribbles, with only one being successful.
While he lost possession 10 times, as well as losing four ground duels.
It does make you wonder why he is still being utilised in this position, especially when we see it consistently from the Englishman that he struggles to beat his man and have any real output from the left hand side.
He barely gave Sergi Palencia anything to worry about, as LAFC’s right back had a pretty simple day at the office.
Then again it’s not as though Maresca is spoilt for options in that particular position, Jadon Sancho recently left the club after his loan spell, and Neto hasn’t exactly proven himself to be an upgrade on Madueke over the course of last season.
19 year-old Tyrique George is the best option he’s got right now, who did end up replacing Noni around the 63rd minute mark.
Links to the likes of Malick Fofana and Jamie Gittens are exciting, but Chelsea really need to put this interest into action quickly.
A left winger needs to come in as soon as possible if they want to be serious contenders not only in this tournament, but the Premier League and Champions League as well.
The problem is, priority target Jamie Gittens now cannot play for Chelsea in this tournament due to being registered for Borussia Dortmund already.
In the case of Madueke, and to provide a balance view, I do believe he offers a lot to the team on the right hand side so not allowing him to showcase his full strengths isn’t fair to him either.
The left wing position will be a talking point yet again on Friday, as Chelsea play their second game of the campaign against Flamengo.
Who does Maresca go with? At this point, it might be worth giving Nicolas Jackson a try out wide to see if there’s any green shoots in a link up with Liam Delap.
