Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has admitted that two of his players struggled to connect in his side’s 1-0 loss against Middlesbrough last night.
Chelsea lost the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final tie versus Middlesbrough after Hayden Hackney’s goal at the Riverside.
It was a poor performance from the Blues, and Mauricio Pochettino told football.london and other outlets after the game that Armando Broja and Mykhailo Mudryk just could not connect in the second half.
Broja and Mudryk were both brought on from the bench, but neither player could turn the game around in the end.
Speaking about the latter after Chelsea’s previous match, Kieran Gibbs claimed that he actually has the capability to become the Premier League’s top creator.
Armando Broja and Mykhailo Mudryk could not connect for Chelsea
Pochettino does not think the Middlesbrough match was Broja and Mudryk’s best game together.
Discussing the two in his post-match press conference, the Argentine said: “When he [Broja] came to the pitch with Mischa, it was difficult for them to connect and they cannot score.”
Armando Broja and Mykhailo Mudryk should get another opportunity against Middlesbrough
Thankfully for Broja, Mudryk and Chelsea, last night was only the first leg of the tie. Pochettino’s side will have the chance to turn things around later this month when Middlesbrough travel to Stamford Bridge for the second leg.
With the Blues now needing to win that match, you would expect a natural striker like Broja to start.
Pochettino’s false 9 experiment with Cole Palmer did not exactly go to plan and Nicolas Jackson will still be at the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal.
As for Mudryk, the Ukrainian is the sort of player you turn to in the second half of matches, so even if he does not start the second leg, he may still get an opportunity from off the bench.
The pace he can bring to the pitch in the second 45 minutes when defenders’ legs are starting to tire makes him an attacker Pochettino cannot ignore.
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