Barnsley 0-1 Chelsea; Players Rating vs Barnsley

 

Tactical and formation change in the 2nd half proved to be the crucial differences as Chelsea beat Barnsley in the FA Cup 5th round. The blues are far from their best against Barnsley who were been well organized defensively and high pressing dangerously. Barnsley dominated in the first half and gave a lot of issues for Chelsea defensively and Chelsea couldn’t do much on the attacking wise but should have got a penalty in the 1st half after Abraham fouled inside the box. But Tuchel made the tactical and formation change in the 2nd half which Chelsea came as a much better team in the 2nd half as Abraham scores the winner for Chelsea as they go through to the next round of the FA Cup. Huge Credit to Barnsley who played well gave Chelsea more attacking threat and probably they are the better side of this. But the end of the day is the matter and Chelsea will now face Sheffield United in the quarter-final of the FA Cup. Chelsea started the match with the 3-4-3 formation then changed their system to 4-2-3-1 in the 2nd half and here is the players rating of thing match.

 

Note;(GK-Goal Keeper, CB- Centre Back, LWB- Left Wing Back, RWB-Right Wing Back, CM- Centre Midfield, LF-Left Forward, RF- Right Forward, ST-Striker, )

 

GK-Kepa Arrizabalaga - Surprisingly he was the busiest keeper on the pitch. Made one vital save in the first half and also his handling was perfect throughout the match. Had one nervy moment after he failed done well with the Barnsley free-kick eventually it was clear of the line. But the overall good performance from him. Rating- 7/10

 

CB- Andreas Christensen – it was a hit and miss-match from him. Defend well at a certain time but he looks uncomfortable on the right side of the defense at a certain time. Left exposed in a certain situation in the 1st half but he has no support from Hudson Odoi as he failed to recover Christensen in Certain Situation. Replaced at half time after he was not in comfort from the head injury he had during the match. Rating 5.5/10  

 

CB- Kurt Zouma –First start under the new manager. Defend it well largely and had some shaky moments as well. His passing was not at his best as he failed to find his teammates for a certain situation. Overall decent enough Performance from him. Rating 6.5/10

 

CB- Emerson- the first time in his career played in the left side of the central defense and he is looking uncomfortable on a certain occasion. Whenever he had the ball he seemed too clueless and he doesn’t know what do to but Alonso also didn’t cover him at all for the majority of the 1st half. After the change of formation, he started to play his natural left-back and improved a lot from the 1st half. But it’s not enough for him to give the selection headache for Tuchel to think about either to start him the Premier League. Rating 6/10

 

RWB- Hudson Odoi. Start back to the wing-back role and had some good crosses inside the box but the Barnsley defense was done well to isolate him in the attacking sense and Hudson Odoi failed to do some defensive duties as Barnsley has the most joy on their left side of their attacking Half. Moved to Left Wing in the 2nd half after the formation change start to create problems for the Barnsley defense and nearly scored after a driving run inside the penalty box. Much Improved and influential performance in the 2nd half compared to the 1st half. Rating 6.5/10

 

LWB- Marcos Alonso – Probably this was his most underwhelming performance in the Wing Back role after a very long time. Nothing offered when he goes forward defensively he didn’t backup Emerson well. But had one good clearance inside the box apart from that he did nothing and subbed off at the half time for the formation change. Rating 4.5/10

 

CM- Ngolo Kante-first start under the new manager was looking of pace in the 1st half but improved a lot in the 2nd half. Won the ball couple of times in the midfield to stop Barnsley Attack. But still, in his shadow of Kante, the people used to see him around 2 years ago. Rating 6.5/10

 

 

CM- Billy Gilmour –Another player that struggled in the 1st half but he was looking like a different player in the 2nd half. Make the crucial final 3rd pass to Reece James for the goal. Controlled the midfield well in the 2nd 45 minutes compared to the 1st half. Also creates one good chance for Abraham during the 1st half of the period. Rating-7/10

 

LF- Christian Pulisic- A hit and miss Match for him. Good at certain tried to take on players to make things happen. His final passing was poor for a lot of good situation epically in the 1st half he was put through pass Gilmours through ball and he failed to find Abraham after a poor pass by him. Rating 5/10

 

RF- Hakim Ziyech- It’s easy to say this. If any fans want to list down his top 10 worse Performances of his career for sure this performance would easily go into the Top 10. Symbolic display from him, Loses his position for a staggering 26 times at this match. Easily give away balls in the dangerous area set up an attack for the opponent team. His delivery was poor as well and he only one good delivery from the free-kick which nearly resulted in a goal for Chelsea. Did well to hold up the ball start the Chelsea attack which eventually they go on scored the winner. But that both were his only decent moments of the match which the real craps cannot be hidden by that. Rating 3/10

 

ST- Tammy Abraham- Man of the Match. The only player who takes the fight against the Barnsley defense in the first half and should have earned a penalty to the team after he was fouled inside the box. His hold play was good as well for the majority of the match. He was involved in the crucial moment of the match from both ends of the pitch. He scored the winning goal as he tapped in from Reece James pass and he also denied Barnsley’s equalizer with the goal clearance with his head. Deserves to be in the starting line-up for the next premier league match and hoping that Tuchel will start him regularly. He is the current leading goal scorer for Chelsea this season with 12 goals. Rating 8/10 Man of The Match 

 

Substitution

Reece James for Marcos Alonso- Barnsley's main attacking threat was Chelsea’s right side of the defense. But after Reece James came on in the half-time slot it well in the right-back and Barnsley attackers then struggled to gets past him. He also set up Abraham for winner and James was the difference-maker for Chelsea today.- Rating 7.5/10

 

Ruediger for Christensen – another player came on the half time but this was not the tactical substitution. Christensen forced to came off after his head injury and Ruedigar did a decent job for Chelsea. Had some good passes to the forwards and nearly scored from Ziyech free-kick as well - Rating 6.5/10

 

Faustino Anjorin for Ziyech- came on for the last 20 and replaced the poor Ziyech. Had some good touches and flicks, tried to make something happen to the team. Rating 6/10

 

Kovacic for Pulisic- Came on for the last 10 minutes to do the defensive works and he has done that so. Rating 5/10

 

Manager

 

Thomas Tuchel- Stars the match with the wrong system but he realized and changed in the half time. And yet again his tactics won this match for Chelsea even though the team was far from their best. But certain things Tuchel needs to address especially how to overcome the high press opponent. When the opponents pressed Chelsea high they seemed to struggle to break down the press. And another same issue is lack of creativity again and this was down to the players and their decision-making. The players should start to play with more urgency. But at the end of the day win is a win.  Rating 7/10