I’ve never seen a manager make more unprompted substitutions of center backs than I have seen from Enzo Maresca this season.
And sure, maybe I’m just too set in the old ways and not hip to the new football. Maybe with five substitutions available these days, it’s inevitable that we’ll see more changes at that position as well. But taking off the one player who was almost single-handedly preventing Sunderland’s counters from posing any real threat was a baffling decision from the manager, regardless of what abilities he may perceive from Tosin Adarabioyo as helpful in anchoring our possession. Sunderland’s winner only served to underline how bad that choice was.
We all make mistakes of course. Even Acheampong, as good as he was, did lose the initial header on Sunderland’s first goal, and then kept everyone onside as he got knocked back towards goal from that aerial duel. But if we’re looking to maximize our chances of winning, he surely needs to be playing the whole game.
First Chelsea goal and first player ratings podium appearance for Garnacho, who recreated his introductory photo shoot with the celebration. And if we had gone on to win from there, we would find all that a lot more delightful. But nice to see him get off the mark and hopefully contribute more consistently. When the entire attack runs out of ideas, we could use someone who can single-handedly win games (at least in theory).
When in doubt, vote Moisés Caicedo.
_GOOD (6.5-7.4)_: **Acheampong (6.9)**
_AVERAGE (5.5-6.4)_: Garnacho (**6.1**), Caicedo (**5.8**), Cucurella (**5.7**), James (**5.6**), Estêvão (**5.6**, _sub_)
_SUBPAR (4.5-5.4)_: Chalobah (**5.2**), Sánchez (**4.9**), Enzo (**4.9**), Neto (**4.8**), Gittens (**4.7**, _sub_), George (**4.5**, _sub_)
_BAD (3.5-4.4)_: Santos (**4.4**, _sub_), Guiu (**4.2**), João Pedro (**3.8**)
_TERRIBLE (2.5-3.4)_: Tosin (**3.4**, _sub_)
See More:
* [Chelsea FC: Premier League](/premier-league)