Hakim Ziyech trudged off the field against Southampton with the look of a player who knew he hadn’t taken his chance.
He picked up an assist in the end, but it was from a corner. In open play he had a big opportunity to force his way into Thomas Tuchel’s thinking, with Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner out injured, but instead another rather flat and grey hour of floating around had convinced nobody.
In fact, every game he plays at the moment further just confirms the theory that he’s not up to it, and never will be.
It’s easy to see him slotting into a lesser team as the sparkling star, but as a key cog in a well oiled Chelsea machine? Not so much.
If he can’t play well in these games, how can he be trusted against some of the really intense, high tempo opposition we will be facing later down the line?
There will be plenty more opportunities coming his way, but if he doesn’t become more effective, he may find he’s playing his way to a summer sale.
