Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was really impressed with how Malo Gusto dealt with Michael Olise in Chelsea’s 2-1 win against Crystal Palace last night.
While Michael Olise was able to score, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink thought Malo Gusto did a good job handling him overall and praised the right-back on Prime Video (27/12/2023 at 21:49).
Gusto also did exceptionally well for Chelsea going forward. It was the Frenchman who set up Mykhailo Mudryk’s goal after a brilliant bit of play.
The Ukrainian’s first-half performance was one former Arsenal defender Lee Dixon really enjoyed watching.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink praises Malo Gusto
Hasselbaink has praised Gusto for the impact he was able to make against Palace and dealing with Olise.
On the 20-year-old, he said: “Poch changed him from the right to the left and I think it was because of Olise, and he took him out of the match. He kept on going on the left as well and he kept on attacking and he had a very, very positive game.”
Malo Gusto’s best performance in a Chelsea shirt
Gusto’s display against Palace had to be his best performance for Chelsea since arriving at the club from Lyon in a £30.7m deal (BBC Sport).
The France international managed to attack and defend successfully, which is what you want to see from a modern-day full-back.
Hopefully he can now maintain this level. With Reece James out injured, Gusto is going to be an important player for Mauricio Pochettino.
In the Chelsea captain’s absence, you would expect the former Lyon man to start more often that not, though Pochettino has not been afraid to also use Axel Disasi there.
However, going forward, Gusto has to be the first-choice right-back until James returns to action, which is not going to be for a while after undergoing surgery on his hamstring.
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