• April 5, 2022
• Olaoluwa Nwobodo

Chelsea has the difficult job of making sense of their result against Brentford at the weekend. Thomas Tuchel is a manager that pays attention to detail and he would have figured out what went wrong in that game. A key takeaway is that Ruben Loftus-Cheek cannot be the deepest midfielder in a midfield three. That said, who does Tuchel trust to get the result against Real Madrid after the Brentford drubbing?

Goalkeeper: Yeah still Edouard Mendy, isn’t it?

Mendy was as horrendous as the rest of his teammates against Brentford. His shot-stopping was poor and his distribution was even worse. He was largely exposed by a defensively unaware backline. That said, his horrendous distribution did not help and he even put Chelsea directly under pressure with one of those passes. The international break may have had something to do with it but it would be reaching to try to excuse what many Chelsea fans witnessed at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Mendy would need to be on top of his game in this game. If he puts on that kind of performance against Real Madrid, things could get very embarrassing for the Blues.

Defenders: Thiago Silva and Antonio Rudiger but no back 4

Silva and Rudiger have been Chelsea’s more consistent defenders this season. It didn’t look like it against Brentford though. Rudiger and Silva were bad at everything that mattered that day. They couldn’t make simple clearances or even pick up obvious runs. Silva made no defensive action, and with the amount of pressure Chelsea came under…WOAH! My Goodness, they were bad.

Rudiger’s goal changed how many saw his performance but make no mistake, he was one of the worst players on the pitch on the night. Tuchel is likely to go back to his 3-4-3 formation with Cesar Azpilicueta as the third centerback. Chelsea’s defense cannot afford another performance of this kind this season. On the bright side, the Blues cannot be any more disorganized than they were against Brentford. They can’t, right? RIGHT?!

Midfielders: Jorginho returns

Midfield? That’s a thing? Many fans couldn’t tell from watching the Brentford game. Jorginho was still not getting credit from some sections of the fanbase for his role in Chelsea’s system. This is until the Blues welcomed Brentford to Stamford Bridge and looked second best for 95 minutes. Chelsea had no control whatsoever in the midfield. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, in theory, was supposed to play Jorginho’s role.  He did anything but. The N’Golo Kante-RLC-Mason Mount experiment can be shelved for now. An offensive-minded midfielder and two box-to-box midfielders don’t work on paper nor in practice. It’s good that Tuchel tried it to though, at least now he knows how much of a bad idea it is.

Jorginho likely returns for this one, with Mateo Kovacic alongside him. According to FBref, Kovacic recorded the highest expected assists (xA) against Brentford, despite only playing 26 minutes. Chelsea needed Kovacic on the pitch. Chelsea ALWAYS needs Kovacic on the pitch. The more alarming thing was that Chelsea’s midfield averaged a passing accuracy of 92% against Brentford, yet had no control whatsoever. Jorginho got a bit more appreciation after Chelsea fans watched their club lose a midfield battle for the entire 90 minutes.

Marcos Alonso and Reece James are going to start at wingback. James came on while Chelsea was 2-1 down and things didn’t get better, in fact, they got worse. James has been one of Chelsea’s most influential players this season and even he couldn’t put his stamp on the game. He still starts against Real Madrid though, because Chelsea is a better team with him in the side. Alonso also starts on the other side, despite what people think about his performance against Brentford. Alonso is Chelsea’s best option at left wingback.

Forwards: Hakim Ziyech gets new partners for Real Madrid

Ziyech was Chelsea’s best player against Brentford. The standard was underground, I know. In fact, Ziyech was moved to the more uncomfortable left wingback position and he was STILL Chelsea’s best player on the pitch. Ziyech has just crossed the 1000-minute mark in the Premier League this season, yet he has created more clear-cut chances than anyone on the team except Kovacic and Mount. One less than both, with significantly fewer minutes played. He was able to squeeze in a clear-cut chance for Kai Havertz, who steered his header wide.

Ziyech is now likely to be paired with Christian Pulisic and Romelu Lukaku. Timo Werner has been starting over Lukaku in the past few weeks for reasons only Tuchel can give. Lukaku is Chelsea’s highest goal scorer this season and the Middlesbrough game in the FA Cup showed just how Chelsea is supposed to play with him in the team. Pulisic played very well during the international break, he even netted a hat trick against Panama. Tuchel mentioned tiredness when talking about Pulisic before the Brentford game, so it can be assumed that the young American did not play due to a lack of match fitness. Pulisic was key in dismantling Real Madrid in last season’s Champions League semifinal, so let’s hope he is key in dismantling them this time as well.

Prediction: Mendy, Azpilicueta, Silva, Rudiger, James, Kovacic, Jorginho, Alonso, Ziyech, Lukaku, Pulisic