Monday Night Football last night had Jamie Carragher on, putting together his team of the season so far.
There were no Chelsea players in there – perhaps harsh, but to be fair we haven’t been one of the main storylines of the season. Carragher did apologise for leaving out one Blues star he simply couldn’t squeeze in, however.
Carragher apologises to Chelsea fans for leaving out Blues star
Moises Caicedo in midfield.
Moises Caicedo in midfield. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
“The other one [I wanted] to put in there was [Moises] Caicedo, and that was a really tough one,” Carragher said.
“I’ve said I think Declan Rice just has the edge on Caicedo but I just felt the impact of Xhaka this season, for me, is the biggest impact of a signing or effect on a team – it feels like he’s just so important to Sunderland so I just felt he had to be in the team. So I apologise to Chelsea fans, as I seem to do a lot, but I couldn’t find room for Caicedo because of those reasons.”
It’s fair enough – these exercises are as much about narrative as who has actually been the best, and Arsenal are top of the league with Rice playing really well, while Xhaka has been the surprise star signing of the surprise overperforming team in the league.
In other news…
Chelsea aren’t likely to make a major January move, but they probably will get something going in the summer, and hot target they’ve been linked to this week by David Ornstein is Elliot Anderson of Nottingham Forest.
The draw with Newcastle came after the Blues turned around a dreadful first half and scored twice in the second. Most fans thought the Blues were shocking in the first half – but Enzo Maresca insisted he had seen some things he liked.
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Jamie Carragher speaking on Sky Sports.
Moises Caicedo in midfield.
Jamie Carragher speaking on Sky Sports.