Heroes and Villains

Heroes

Saturday night’s comeback couldn’t be explained without the brilliance of João Pedro. The Brazilian completely took over the game in the second half, his movement was sensational for both the action of his goal, which started the comeback, and for his assist of Fernández’s match winner. Pedro looks confident and back to his best, exactly what Chelsea wanted when they signed him last summer.

Speaking of the match-winner, Enzo Fernández celebrated his 150th Chelsea appearance with yet another box-crashing goal. The Argentine dictated the game from deep in the second half, but when Chelsea needed a winner, he was there to pounce as he so often has in the past year. A deserved reward for a player who routinely appears when needed most.

Villains

Chelsea’s nightmare evening began with a Robert Sánchez blunder. The Spaniard returned to his nervy ways, hesitantly taking steps backwards instead of pouncing forwards with confidence to capture Jarrod Bowen’s cross. Nobody got to the end of it, but Sánchez’s dreadful positioning left him powerless from the ball curling inside the far post.

Chelsea didn’t listen to Enzo Maresca and instead pushed ahead with the signing of Alejandro Garnacho last summer. Here, almost seven years after Eden Hazard almost single handedly dismantled West Ham back in 2018–19, Garnacho made Aaron Wan-Bissaka look like the world’s best right back, failing to dribble past him even once and allowing him the freedom to collect two assists on the other end. Not nearly good enough from the Argentine.

Chelsea Player Ratings vs. West Ham

*Ratings Provided by Fotmob*

GK: Robert Sánchez—6.0: Although he had a couple of good saves, he simply cannot concede goals like West Ham’s opener or any criticism directed his way will be merited.

RB: Malo Gusto—6.6: Recovered after a poor first half where he failed to close in on Summerville for the visitors’ second by coming alive after the interval, playing a key role in Chelsea’s equaliser.

CB: Trevoh Chalobah—6.9: His services were often required to clean up messy situations urgently. Still, he wasn’t particularly solid and was part of Chelsea’s lackluster defensive performance.

CB: Benoît Badiashille—6.5: Caught out of position constantly and when he was called upon, he failed to properly intervene in the actions of both West Ham goals, resulting in his half-time substitution.

LB: Jorrel Hato—6.7: Had no answers for Jarrod Bowen, who did whatever he wanted down the wing until Hato was hooked at the break in favour of Marc Cucurella.

DM: Moisés Caicedo—7.2: Was often bypassed with uncharacteristic ease and looked overwhelmed by the pace of West Ham’s counter attacks, resulting in him often getting caught out of position.

CM: Enzo Fernández—8.3: Routinely involved all game but he was erratic in the opening 45 minutes. His sharpness dramatically improved after the restart, and he was key to orchestrating Chelsea’s reaction. Put the Superman cape on to score the match-winner at the dead.

RW: Jamie Gittens—6.1: Didn’t make anything special happen with his 12 total touches and left the pitch injured before the 30-minute mark.

AM: Cole Palmer—6.9: After a very encouraging cameo midweek, Palmer was once again contained and he was a none-factor for long stretches of the match. Continues to look far from his best.

LW: Alejandro Garnacho—6.5: Chelsea’s attacks more often than not died when the ball reached his feet and his inability to track his marker contributed to West Ham’s goals.

ST: Liam Delap—7.2: His hold-up play was strong and was crucial to Chelsea’s second, yet he continues to lack quality in front of goal.

SUB: Pedro Neto (26’ for Gittens)—6.7: Forced to enter the game after Gittens’s injury and failed to make any significant impact.

SUB: Marc Cucurella (46’ for Hato)—8.1: Cucurella was brilliant, finally stopping Bowen from creating any more danger and showcasing his knack for goal with a great instinctive movement to pounce and score the equaliser.

SUB: Wesley Fofana (46’ for Badiasille)—7.4: Helped stabilise what was a chaotic defence in the first half and Chelsea’s first was a result of a perfectly accurate Fofana cross.

SUB: João Pedro (46’ for Garnacho)—8.3: Made his presence felt instantly after coming on, was at the heart of Chelsea’s best attacking actions and inspired the comeback with two goal contributions.

SUB: Reece James (81’ for Gusto)—N/A: Didn’t have much time to truly make an impact.

Subs not used: Teddy Sharman-Lowe (GK), Josh Acheampong, Andrey Santos, Marc Guiu

What the Ratings Tell Us

• Replacing Garnacho with Pedro was a stroke of genius from Rosenior. The Argentine was arguably the worst player on the pitch in the second half and, contrastingly, Pedro was at the heart of everything that went right for Chelsea after the interval. Garnacho may very well see his role diminish in coming weeks.
• Cucurella and Fofana are essential for Chelsea to be at their best defensively. The pair completely shut down West Ham‘s right wing after it dominated in the first half and the pair of defenders also contributed in attack.
• Chelsea’s defensive depth is non-existent. Rosenior is adamant he wants to rotate his side, but games like this show that the Blues simply don’t have the defensive depth to survive with at least some of their key defenders starting.

The Numbers That Explain Chelsea’s Comeback

• Pedro’s four goals in his last three games—all wins—explain just how devastating he’s been of late. Chelsea must ride his purple patch because he’s looking better each and every game.
• Chelsea generated 2.55 xG after that number was well below 1.0 at half time. With five of their six shots on target also coming in the second half, it’s clear the Blues were a different team after the restart.

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