Chelsea manager Graham Potter insists that he is fully aware of Hakim Ziyech‘s “fantastic quality” as he explained the winger’s lack of game time at Stamford Bridge.
Ziyech caught a lot of attention recently after helping Morocco become the first African nation to reach a World Cup semifinal.
His output was rather low, mostly due to Morocco’s defensive play style, but his performance still impressed quite a lot of people, including Roberto Carlos who considered him the best winger in the tournament.
However, this also puts a question mark on his struggle for game time at Chelsea.
When confronted with the question, Potter argued that Ziyech is actually lower in the pecking order when he first arrived.
“He played against Man City, he came on against Newcastle,” the manager pointed out when asked about Ziyech’s lack of starts at Chelsea (via the club’s official website).
“He was a little bit away from the first XI when we first came, but he’s been involved in the games. He came on in our first game.
“We know his qualities. We like him as a player. He plays between the lines, has fantastic quality as we saw at the World Cup.
“At Chelsea, there are always good players who aren’t in the starting XI. You have to be patient.
“Delighted for him, he got the game time and helped his team. I kept in touch with him over the World Cup. He’s a good guy, and he’s got quality.”
To be fair, Ziyech arguably just does not suit the back-three systems that Potter, as well as Thomas Tuchel, uses.
The former Ajax man prefers to operate wide and have space to make crosses, but the 3-4-3 structure, for example, forces him to play more centrally.
Tweaking the system to suit him is not a feasible option, either, as Chelsea would want Reece James to operate in that wide area of the pitch.
Keep up to date with all the latest Chelsea news and opinion by following The Chelsea Chronicle’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox
