Liam Delap toiled up front for most of last night’s game against Pafos, again coming off without having found the net.
After the game, his manager Liam Rosenior had to field questions about the striker. He’s been a big backer of the youngster in his early days as coach, but the pressure is on after the summer signing drew another blank.
When asked if the striker was low on confidence, Rosenior denied that as an issue:
“I wouldn’t say so. Liam’s an outstanding player,” the manager said after the game.
“It’s very difficult for a centre-forward to find spaces when a team defends as deep as Pafos did. I think Liam prefers open spaces to run into and use his speed and his pace. But no, he did a lot of really good things today with and without the ball. I wouldn’t say he’s lacking confidence at all.”
Delap needs more chances and quicker attacks
Chelsea's team to fact Pafos, fairly generic group.
Chelsea’s team to fact Pafos, fairly generic group. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
We’d largely agree with that – there have been times when we’ve seen the striker lacking belief, but recently we’ve seen him looking better, just not getting the service he needs. The way the team plays just doesn’t seem to suit anyone who plays up top. The issues of Enzo Maresca’s game style have continued here.
Delap seems trusted ahead of Joao Pedro as the first choice 9, which is giving him more confidence. If he can score against Crystal Palace this weekend, we could see him finally break out.
In other news…
Moises Caicedo was the hero once again for Chelsea, scoring a crucial header to win the Blues the game and put them back into the Champions League top 8.
Liam Rosenior has continued to use Malo Gusto inverted as a number ten in this game – something fans don’t love. We’re with them on that one.
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