Jon Brady and Port Vale were on a great FA Cup run until they met Chelsea in the quarter-finals on Saturday.
After knocking out Sunderland in the previous round, they were thrashed 7-0 by the Blues at Stamford Bridge.
Brady was still proud of his players for getting this far, but he has admitted that Chelsea are just on a whole other level.
Chelsea player ratings vs Port Vale 👏🏻
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Chelsea player ratings against Port Vale in the FA Cup
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Jon Brady describes Chelsea players as ‘ruthless’
“Ruthless” was the word that Brady used as the 51-year-old discussed how badly Chelsea punished his team on the day.
Speaking to BBC Sport after the game, Brady said: “Three set-pieces, we didn’t defend well enough. Very frustrating. It shows in the end. To keep it at four or five would have been respectable, but to concede the last two was a bit of a gut punch.
“I’m proud of the players overall. It shows how ruthless the players are at this level and it’s something we can stride to.”
Chelsea's Joao Pedro (centre) celebrates scoring
Photo by Andrew Kearns – CameraSport via Getty Images
Liam Rosenior’s men really needed those goals after struggling in attack in their previous three matches.
Just prior to the international break, the Club World Cup winners were beaten 3-0 by Everton. Before that, they lost 3-0 to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League after a 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United.
Chelsea’s next fixture is against Manchester City in the Premier League. Hopefully, the players will have their goalscoring boots on again that afternoon.
Cole Palmer still managed to impress Rosenior despite not finding the back of the net. Against City, though, Chelsea will need a player of Palmer’s attacking quality to step up and make an impact.
Chelsea’s attacking numbers vs Port Vale
The statistics back up how deadly Chelsea were in their latest FA Cup tie. As per Sofascore, they had an xG of 4.13 but were still able to score seven goals!
In total, the Blues registered 20 shots, while they also created 11 big chances. Offensively, it was a really bright display, but it was only League One opposition Chelsea were facing.
The real test will be when they take on City before games against Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur. A 7-0 win and progression to the FA Cup semi-finals can only be seen as a positive thing, but no one is getting carried away here.
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