Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino yet again watched his side deliver a performance last night that was miles below par.
The Blues would have been quietly pleased to draw Championship club Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup semi-finals, but they’ve just lost the first leg to them on Tuesday evening.
Boro rerecorded a 1-0 home win over Chelsea yesterday, so it gives them something to defend in the second leg at Stamford Bridge.
Of course, there’s plenty of time for Chelsea to overturn the deficit and reach the final. It’s going to take a massive improvement on last night’s showing, though.
BBC pundit Stewart Downing did criticise Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino for an in-game decision he made in the defeat to Boro.
He was left stunned that Blues winger Noni Madueke was substituted off the pitch just past the hour mark.
“I cannot get my head round that, Noni Madueke has been Chelsea’s most threatening player. I thought it would be Raheem Sterling coming off,” Downing told BBC Radio 5 Live (9:25pm, 9 January).
Noni Madueke substitution
Madueke ranked as Chelsea’s second best on player versus Boro via WhoScored, but he was taken off the pitch during the second-half.
The right-winger received a 6.83 match rating. His display included three shots, three dribbles and one key pass.
A lot of what the skilful forward was trying to do against Boro wasn’t quite coming off, but there was more intent from him than most of his teammates.
It’s great to see him get more minutes in the last few weeks after a quiet first half of the season.
Reporting via GiveMeSport last month, journalist Ben Jacobs claimed that Chelsea have no plans to sell Madueke.
We’re optimistic that the English speedster can enjoy a big second half of the campaign for the Blues.
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