Chelsea 1-1 Villarreal (6-5 on penalties)- Success at start of the season

Chelsea finished the 2020/21 season on high by winning the Champions League and now they start the new 2021/22 season on high by beating the Europa League winner Villarreal in the UEFA Super Cup. Ziyech opens the scoring for Chelsea in the first half then Moreno equalizes for Villarreal in the 2nd half as the match went to extra time which then went to penalty shootout as the European Champions beat the Europa League winners 6-5 on penalties. Let’s look at the player's rating of the match and also let’s analyze what’s went right and wrong for Chelsea.     

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 – made a couple of massive saves, there is one moment in which his slip almost cost the match for Chelsea but he redeemed himself with a world-class save to deny Moreno.  Rating- 7/10 

CB- Trevoh Chalobah –my man of the match. Dealt everything he faced as he shows no sign of nervousness on his Chelsea debut as he put in a couple of great tackles and interceptions.  Rating 9/10  

 

CB- Kurt Zouma– this might be probably his last game for the club as he had a couple of shaky moments but relatively did well. Rating 7/10 

CB- Ruediger-  His poor clearances lead to the Villarreal goal which is uncharacteristic to him but apart from that error he did well for the remainder of the match also scored the 6th penalty for Chelsea in the shootout.   Rating 7/10

RWB- Hudson Odoi- Creates some problems on the right side while attacking but defensively he was exposed on many occasions but Chalobah was there to cover him. Not a good day for him.  Rating 6/10

LWB- Marcos Alonso – contributes in both aspects of the game as he put in a strong attacking performance also involved in the opening goal for Chelsea. Defensively apart from few shaky moments he defends it well and took his penalty well from the shootout.  Rating 8/10

CM- Ngolo Kante- Another strong performance from the French international as he was everywhere around the pitch and he subbed off in the 65th minute which was probably a precautionary move. Rating 8/10.

CM- Kovacic- game of hit and miss from him as he put in some brilliant tackles and thriving runs with the ball. But he stood and watch for the Villarreal goal which he should have tracked the run of Moreno.  Rating-6/10 

RF- Hakim Ziyech- scored the opening goal for Chelsea as he continued his good pre-season form in the competitive match also creates more goal-scoring chances than any other player until his devastating injury set back in the half. Rating 8/10

LF- Kai Havertz- Another attacking threat for Chelsea in the 1st half as he created a couple of good goal-scoring chances which one of which leads to the opening goal. Then he faded throughout the whole match and also missed his penalty in the shootout, probably the most relive man in the world after the shootout. Rating 7/10 

ST- Timo Werner - same old story, his movement create spaces for other attackers and also forced the Villarreal keeper to make a good save in the 1st half. But his touches hold play everything was poor today as the Villarreal defenders dealt with him easily. Rating 5/10 

 

Substitution

Christian Pulisic for Hakim Ziyech - shocking and should’ve scored also wasted a couple of good openings with his poor decision makings but took his penalty well from the shootout   Rating 4/10

Jorginho for Ngolo Kante-despite being not fully fit he showed that how important he is to the team as controlled the match after his arrival and also scored the 5th penalty in the shootout-Rating 7/10

Mason Mount for Timo Werner- looks sharper and brought energy to the attack in the 2nd half which was missing after the start of the 2nd half. Could have scored the winning goal but was denied well by the keeper and calmly slot his spot-kick in the back of the net in the shootout. Rating 7/10

Cesar Azpilicueta for Hudson Odoi- his introduction brings some steadiness on the right side also links up well with Mount on the right side and one of the goal scorers in the penalty shootout.

Kepa Arrizabalaga for Edouard Mendy- Justified the manager's decision to bring him on to the penalty shootout as he turns out to be the Super Cup hero for Chelsea by saving 2 penalties in the shootout. Rating 8/10 

 

What went right

Trevoh Chalobah

The 22-year-old could be another player from the academic to break into the Chelsea first-team squad after a matured, commanding and impressive man of the match display against Villarreal. His tackling, the interception was well timing and also he is the type of defender who will suit the Tuchel system which is a ball-playing center-back. He seemed to be comfortable with the ball and also he thrives forward on the right side without any fear. Tuchel now said after the post-match press conference that Chalobah now forces his way into his plans after an outstanding display against Villarreal and look at his stats.

 Thomas Tuchel

What can I said about him, Tactical Genius. His decision to bring Kepa on to the penalty shootout proves to the decisive moment of this match, also when Villarreal was on the front foot for the majority of the 2nd half, Tuchel decided to move Mount into the midfield in the extra time which stopped Villarreal to progress throughout the match during that period. His decision-making, tactics everything was spot on today as he wins another trophy with Chelsea and a lot more to come.

 

 

Edouard Mendy and Kepa Arrizabalaga

Okay let’s get this straight right, Mendy kept 9 clean sheets which are more than any other goalkeeper, conceded just 4 goals in last season’s UCL campaign, and also only Ederson has kept more clean-sheet than Mendy in the premier league last season. The reason why I’m mentioning this, Mendy is one of the best goalkeepers in the world right now also he is Chelsea’s NO 1 Goalkeeper. But when Tuchel decided to subbed him off for Kepa, Mendy accepts it for the team because it was already pre-planned between the manager and both goalkeepers as statically Kepa is better at saving penalties than Mendy. That’s the maturity and professionalism of Mendy as he deserves massive respect for that.

Now the hero of the night Kepa Arrizabalaga, after his decent 1st season with Chelsea, his form dipped massively on his 2nd season as he started to make more errors in goal than last season he dropped behind Mendy for the main goalkeeper of the club. Most importantly after his controversial incident with the former Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri received a lot of criticism from the fans, pundits, and people start to say that his 72 million world-record fees for a goalkeeper seemed like complete and utter disaster which was unfair on him. To be fair he didn’t cover himself glory for the fee that Chelsea paid for him but now it’s a different story. He finally redeemed himself with all the criticism he faced by saving 2 penalties in the shootout leads Chelsea for the super cup glory. He sets up himself as a role model for the upcoming players showed that when things didn’t go well against you don’t lose hope as one day your day will arrive as finally, it happened to Kepa Arrizabalaga.

 

Another European glory as a good start of the new season for Chelsea

It was Chelsea’s 8th European trophy in their history as only Liverpool (13) has won more than Chelsea among the Premier League teams. Also, it’s a positive way to start the new season with a trophy in the cabinet as Chelsea’s biggest aim now is to defend their Champions League successfully and also to win the Premier League title for the 1st time since 2017. Also don’t forget about the FA Cup, Carabao Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup which Chelsea will try to win everything possible to do so.

 

What went wrong

I not going to be too negative because we have won another trophy but there is also something that needs to take into consideration from this match.

 Ziyech injury setback

Hakim Ziyech is probably the best player for Chelsea in the pre-season and the best player for Chelsea against Villarreal until his injury probably might be dislocated shoulder for him. He looks so much gutted, so will be all Chelsea fans because last season he was unlucky with his injuries, and also now it is back to haunt him again. Hoping that he won’t be in the side-line for too long and hoping to see him on the pitch As soon as possible.

2nd half performance

In the 1st half, Chelsea looks sharper and was looking like the most dangerous side but in the 2nd half, the players start to giving the ball cheaply as Villarreal players caught them on so many occasions which one resulted in a goal for them. Tuchel managed to stabilize the team in the extra time as again Chelsea start to take control of the match. But this 2nd half performance should not be repeating this season especially against the team with more qualities because on another day it might get worse for the team. 

 

Final Verdict

It’s a positive way to start the season by winning another trophy but the performance must be much better than this and for sure with the incoming of Romelu Lukaku, the team will be stronger for the upcoming matches. But for now, it’s time to celebrate because the best team in the world and the European champions just have won another trophy under Thomas Tuchel.