What we learned from Chelsea’s draw against Salzburg

Chelsea looked to set things straight in the UCL after the matchday one loss to Dinamo Zagreb against Salzburg but a late strike from Noah Okafor meant Graham Potter started his reign with a draw that further dents Chelsea’s UCL progression hopes. Here are 5 lessons learned as Potter started his reign as Chelsea manager.

◦ Jorginho remains a Catalyst :

It is no longer a coincidence or mistake that every manager that has walked through the door at Stamford Bridge since Jorginho came into the club has trusted the Brazil born Italian and made him a starter. It is only the first match of Graham Potter but the template has already been set and Graham seems to be tolling the same line as his predecessors; “Make Jorginho a fulcrum of your team”. Here against Salzburg, Jorginho played as the pivot in Potter’s midfield three and sat deepest while looking to dictate play and organize the team from deep.

Jorginho certainly isn’t as bad a player as many think and he keeps showing his worth to every manager that comes to take the reign at Stamford Bridge, it’s time to respect Jorginho.

◦ Azpilicueta picked over Fofana?

A surprise many couldn’t have predicted was the dropping of Fofana for the experienced Azpi but that decision now seems bad in review. With Salzburg electing to go with a two-man attack, both strikers often splitting towards both RCB and LCB, it was left to Azpilicueta to mark in-form Switzerland international Noah Okafor.

After a rather quiet evening from the attacker, an unlucky slip by Silva while looking to shut down a Salzburg attack down the right meant Azpi had to cover the space vacated by Azpi but his lack of pace and quick reaction led to Okafor nipping the ball before the skipper and drawing Salzburg level. Fofana certainly has more pace and can recover faster than the captain and Potter should have that pin-pointed now and understand why Todd and TT thought it best to spend over £70 million to get him from Leicester City.

◦ Mason Mount as an 8 :

A player that constantly divides opinion on his favored position, it was pleasing to many to see Potter have Mason Mount as one of two number 8s at the Bridge. Playing off the right of the midfield three, Mount showed enough promise as to why many have constantly called for him to be played way deeper than he played under TT.

With his energy and tenacity, Mount makes a good proposition as an attacking 8 but there’s more work to be done on his final balls and long range passes. One thing without question though is Mount’s desire to work hard off the ball.

His footballing intelligence is also most times underrated and one occasion of Azpi moving out of position while Salzburg attacked saw Mount track back brilliantly to intercept a dangerous ball and snuff out that attack. Mason once again remains important to yet another manager.

◦ Kai inefficient, again!!!

Playing off Aubameyang in a number 10 role, it was frustrating to see Kai Harvertz have little to no effect on the game tonight. With a free role rendered to the former Leverkusen playmaker, it was sadly another bad performance from him

Kai had a position to float just around Auba but he failed to either connect perfectly with the striker or link up well enough with the wingers/wingbacks.

Kai had no key pass nor any take-on completed while on the pitch for just over an hour.
Kai certainly has to improve and begin to take games by the scruff of the neck if he is to justify his inclusion in further teams.

◦ Passes without Penetration :

With many attributing TT to the reason Chelsea struggle to create enough chances and have penetrating plays, the problem seems to remain evident in the team. Chelsea dominated play as everyone expected, it was a surprise to see the blues have an expected goal of just 1.01 after amassing a total of 582 completed passes out of 696 attempted.

With chance creation still a problem, Potter sought to have a high percentage of ball recoveries and achieved that with a total of 46 balls recovered. Chelsea still managed to have 16 attempts to Salzburg’s 4 and have to share the spoils after another frustrating display at home venue Stamford Bridge.

Man of the Match : Marc Cucurella, 8/10

Chelsea are off this weekend’s premier league match schedule after the game Liverpool was postponed due to security concerns as the funeral takes place for Queen Elizabeth.