Liam Rosenior has been handed a nice headache to have when it comes to attacking stars Joao Pedro and Liam Delap following Chelsea’s FA Cup victory against Hull City.
Pedro has been the star of the show lately, and has clearly left an impression on Rosenior with the amount of goals he has contributed to.
Delap was given the chance against Hull, and answered in style with three assists for Pedro Neto and Estevao Willian.
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Delap was criticised for not scoring himself, although put that moment out of his mind to come through with a classy performance.
Hull City v Chelsea - Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
Micah Richards outlines plan for Liam Delap and Joao Pedro to feature together at Chelsea
After the game, the conversation quickly turned to how Chelsea can continue to get the best out of the former Ipswich Town man alongside the other attacking stars at the club.
Micah Richards outlined a plan that would see both Pedro and Delap start together, with the Brazilian dropping deeper to support in attack.
He said to BBC Sport: “It’s another option though. I think they could play together, Joao Pedro in as a 10. Obviously Palmer is in there, Estevao, Neto, he’s got some competition.
“But in terms of what Joao Pedro does going really deep and Delap going in behind, I think they could make a really good partnership. In terms of what they could bring together, it’s an option.
“I think his movement’s too good. Sometimes, they all come towards the ball and become a little predictable. With Delap, you can’t be.”
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The difficulty behind Richards’ plan would be how you are going to get all of the quality attacking players into a side that also has Delap up front.
Cole Palmer is in excellent form with five goal contributions in his last two games, while Neto’s hat-trick is likely to keep him in the manager’s starting side.
Chelsea fans will always want to see as much of Estevao as possible, and it is hard to argue that Enzo Fernandez has not been shining in a more advanced role since Rosenior took over.
The embarrassment of riches the manager has at his disposal mean this is not likely to be a common plan, but certainly one Rosenior can have in his back pocket if the opposition suit.
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