Jamie Carragher could not believe what he saw Conor Gallagher doing earlier today as Chelsea faced West Ham in the Premier League.
The 45-year-old was speaking on commentary duty for Sky Sports alongside Peter Drury.
So, what did Jamie Carragher say about Conor Gallagher as Chelsea clashed with West Ham? Let’s take a look…
What’s the story?
Well, the Sky Sports pundit was left shocked after seeing the Chelsea No.23 tasked with marking Nayef Aguerd in the opening stages of today’s game at the London Stadium.
Carragher described it as a “mismatch” between Gallagher – who Chelsea value at £50m, according to Fabrizio Romano – and the 6ft 3in Morocco international.
If anything, that is an understatement.
Carragher said: “His (James Ward-Prowse) set-piece delivery is on point and that just proves it. For Chelsea it is a mismatch at the back post for Conor Gallagher against Nayef Aguerd. It’s a huge problem.”
It certainly did prove to be a huge problem for Mauricio Pochettino and the Blues.
In the seventh minute, Aguerd rose highest to nod the ball beyond Robert Sanchez after easily losing Gallagher inside the box, who seemed to be more focused on the ball than where the West Ham No.27 actually was.
Chelsea vs West Ham shows importance of finer details
We aren’t sure whether it was Pochettino who told Gallagher to mark Aguerd, or whether it was decided by the players themselves, but whoever came up with the idea needs to learn from it.
Premier League football is often decided on fine margins, and set-piece situations like the one West Ham scored from are a very cheap way to concede a goal at this level.
It is common sense to put someone more physical than Gallagher on a towering presence such as Aguerd, and hopefully, Chelsea learn from this incident going forwards.
If not, then you can be sure that opponents will target the Blues from dead ball situations this season.
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