West Ham 0-1 Chelsea; Players rating vs West Ham

As I mentioned in my previous blog this match should be the right time to rate the players so better they put in the performance to gets the right result and they did it so as Chelsea beat West Ham away from home in the vital match in the race for the top 4. Chelsea had the majority spell of the match in the 1st half as they dominate West Ham took the deserved lead and in the 2nd half West Ham takes control of the possession but still, Chelsea had the better goal-scoring opportunity as they should have scored more than a goal. But how many times am I going to repeat that we should have scored more than a goal? The players have to be more clinical enough in front of the goal as they missed a couple of good chances to kill the game but they failed to takes their chances. Chelsea can’t get away with this all-time and players need to kill off the game when they had the chance to do so. Yes, it’s a good win but the beauty of football is if you not taking your chances you had the chance of punished by the opponent even though when they are not playing well. So the players should start to kill the game when they had the opportunities and here is the players rating of the 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, )

Formation:3-4-2-1

GK- Edouard Mendy – puts the team into trouble with a risky pass in the 1st half but apart from that, Mendy had nothing to do. Made some easy save that he should be and command it his box well and so his handling was good as well. Rating- 6/10 

CB- Andreas Christensen – booked for a silly foul on Jessie Lingard but again he was rock solid at the back and so showed his capability that he can play on the right side of defense as well with an impressive display. He also played in a couple of nice through balls for the attackers which lead to a couple of good openings for Chelsea. Rating 7.5/10  

CB- Thiago Silva – he was unbeatable again in the defense and so as other Chelsea defenders as the West Ham players didn’t dribble past any Chelsea defenders today. He was also calm when he had the ball and played the right passes for his teammates.  Rating 7.5/10 

CB- Ruediger- his passing was a bit off today which creates some troubles for Chelsea but defensively he dealt well with everything he faced and also kept Jarrod Bowen quiet for the majority of the match. Rating 7/10

RWB- Azpilicueta -   Starts in the Wing back role and the captain was outpaced constantly on the right side by Ryan Fredericks. Continuously giving away cheap fouls in the dangerous areas and also didn’t offer much when he goes forward as well. But he was in the part of the move which leads to the Chelsea goal rather than that it’s not a good day for him and probably he should not be starting in the wing-back role again. Despite the shaky moments when it comes to defending, he defends it well on certain occasions.  Rating 6/10

LWB-Ben Chilwell– Shaky start of the match which he lost the position in the middle which leads to the West Ham counter then he gets away with that as Chelsea dealt with that. Apart from that Chilwell was brilliant again on the left side as he assisted Werner for the only goal of the match. Also, defend it well against Coufal especially in the 2nd half when West Ham searching for the equalizer Rating 7/10

CM- Jorginho- the Italian didn’t put a foot wrong in the midfield as he controlled the midfield also calm composed with the ball. But his passing was so many sideways and backward as he didn’t want to take the risk by playing the ball forward. Even when on a couple of occasions Werner seemed to be making good runs but instead of finding him with a through ball, he decided to go on the side. That’s the only downfall of his game today but he can break the lines which he was doing for the last couple of the games. As I mentioned earlier he didn’t put a foot wrong but his sideways and backward passes are the downfall of his game today. Rating 6.5/10

CM- Ngolo Kante- this machine was everywhere around the pitch as he protected the defense well and the West Ham midfield was struggled to contain him also they couldn’t go past him the midfield. Kante also breaks up the play with his passing’s and runs but his decision-making on certain occasions could have been better. Especially right at the end he did all the good work as he runs past the West Ham players as now he just needs to find Ziyech who completely free near to the West Ham half but Kante delays his pass and later he tried to find Ziyech which he couldn’t succeed. So the decision-making could have been better but it was another energetic performance from him.  Rating 7/10 

RF- Mason Mount- some still criticizing him which is unfair but he keeps on producing the best performance for Chelsea as he was the best player on the pitch for Chelsea. Did well to hold the ball for the goal and also create one best chance for Werner which the German should have done better. Also tested Fabianski more than any Chelsea players and force him to make a couple of good saves in the 2nd half. Mount also contributes to the team in the defensive aspect of the game as he had the most ball recoveries, most tackles, and also most blocks made for the team which shows another side of his game. His attacking contribution was also impressive as he creates the most chances, most shots on target, and also most take-ons completed. Stats all in his favor and so my man of the match also in his favor as well.  Rating 8/10 Man of the match   

LF- Christian Pulisic- should have scored as Werner found him inside the penalty box but his attempt was easily saved by Fabianski. Did well for the goal as he carries to ball forward and finds Chilwell on the left side but he was relatively quiet for the majority of the match.  Rating 6.5/10 

ST- Timo Werner -    The match winner and scored his 1st goal over 2 months to gain his confidence. His goal was to start and finish by him as he did well to hold the ball and find Pulisic then slot in the back of the net from Chilwell’s pass. His hold-up play also improved a lot against West Ham also Tested Fabianski in the 2nd half as he cuts inside and shoots on his left foot. But his finishing should be better as he misses a great chance to score in the 1st half from Mount's pass and in the 2nd half, he missed an absolute sitter which was even worse from his 1st miss. Also when he was 1 on 1 against Fabianski before the red card incident, Werner chooses the wrong option by tried to pass the ball to his teammates which at least he should have tested the goalkeeper on the situation. Werner scored the goal which was the key moment of this match but he should be taking his chances as well because, on another day, it might be the hammer blow to the team.    Rating 7/10 

 

Substitution

Hakim Ziyech for Pulisic– came on for the last 20 minutes and he looks lively and hungry. Pressed the West Ham players and runs around constantly also taking a couple of shots that were blocked by the West ham defense. Rating 6/10

Reece James for Azpilicueta - Came on for the last 10 minutes to deal with the pace of Ryan Fredericks and he did it well. - Rating 5.5/10

Tammy Abraham for Timo Werner- he is back after a long absence by the manager and he nearly scored from Mounts's cross which was high for him and also even with his 10 minutes spells Abraham looks lively. Rating 5.5/10

 

 

Manager

Thomas Tuchel- as usual, his tactics, the game plan was spot on and the players he picked all did well apart from Azpilicueta who looks uncomfortable in the RWB role and Tuchel now will be aware of this decision. I have mentioned earlier about the player's clinical abilities but what the manager can do when the players missing sitters. Tuchel guiding this team in the right direction and the players should be taking the responsibilities on the field which is the same thing that I’m repeating. The team should be taking their chances and kill the game because in every game we can’t get away from missing our chances and players should be more clinical enough in front of the goal. Tuchel did well as he always doing and deserves the full credit as well. Now time to be more ruthless and focus against Real Madrid in the massive Semi-Final in the Champions League. Rating 8/10