Mykhailo Mudryk started his first game for Chelsea tonight, but only lasted 45 minutes. The winger was a total non-event in attack, and was easily held at bay by an organised Fulham.
He was totally anonymous in the first half and didn’t reappear for the second half. After the game, Graham Potter was asked for more information about the change, with journalists keen to figure out if it was tactical or thanks to an injury.
Potter explained that the change was due to a “heavy cold” that the Ukraine star had.
That’s just… odd. If he’s got such a bad cold that he had to be taken off, why did he start the game at all? We had two great options on the bench in the same position in Noni Madueke and Raheem Sterling, and both of them contributed more as subs than Mudryk did as a starter.
Perhaps Potter is just protecting the new signing.