Last night’s crucial EFL Cup semi-final saw Mauricio Pochettino look to make a statement from the off.
He picked an attacking side that saw him drop one of his favoured players since taking over at Chelsea from the starting side.
Conor Gallagher dropped to the bench as the boss looked to get Cole Palmer on the ball more in deeper areas of the pitch.
This seemed to have the desired effect, and arguably the club’s player of the season so far found the net twice in a rampant win that saw them book their place at Wembley.
One player who was handed a big chance to impress was Mykhailo Mudryk, after being forced to watch from the bench for large portions of this season.
This was also the case in the first leg of this very tie, where he was one of only two senior players who made the bench for the Blues.
Mudryk failed to take Chelsea chance
However, it was Noni Madueke who dropped to the bench and allowed the Ukraine international to start on his preferred left-wing.
The 23-year-old however struggled to get anything going in an attack, and was actually a frequent way the opponents managed to win the ball back for themselves.
His performance seemed to frustrate some other Chelsea players on the pitch too. Enzo Fernandez was visibly angry with what he was seeing from the winger, frequently telling him where he should be.
The display will have been worrying for some Chelsea fans, with the rest of the squad taking the opportunity against the significantly weaker opposition to put in strong performances.
Pochettino claimed after the game that he substituted him after he was given a yellow card in the first half.
However, he will have been left feeling disappointed with what he saw from the winger in a great opportunity to impress.
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