A pundit who has often been very critical and over critical of Chelsea in recent times now admits that The Blues have taken a step forward.
The comments came after Chelsea drew 1-1 with Arsenal on Sunday evening after playing 60 minutes of the game with ten men. Chelsea even scored first and looked like they would go on to win the game even with one less player.
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Moises Caicedo got himself sent off on 38 minutes after making a silly tackle with not much to argue about in the end. It was unlike Caicedo but this one was just a badly mist-timed tackle with studs up.
But Chelsea then battled hard to earn the point and did not look like a team playing with one less player than their opposition. They could have easily won the game and actually ended up having the same amount of shots on target (5) as Arsenal did.
Steve Nicol, who used to play for Liverpool and is now a pundit for ESPN, has often been heavily critical on Chelsea – sometimes a little unfair in my opinion. But he’s admitting now that finally, Chelsea are getting there with this project.
What Nicol has said
Trevoh Chalobah celebrates his goal.
Trevoh Chalobah celebrates his goal. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
In words picked up on X, Nicol told ESPN:
“I was impressed with Chelsea (against Arsenal) big time. I think this game showed that Chelsea have taken a step forward.
“A team that we weren’t quite sure what we were going to get. Well, today they’ve set the standard for themselves.”
Long way to go
We know that these pundits could turn on Chelsea at any moment, but we can soak up the praise for now. There is a long way to go in this season yet, but the signs are there for Chelsea’s project finally looking to make a real impact.