The London is Blue podcast had an interesting guest on today, who discussed Kalidou Koulibaly’s good performance last night.
The defender has struggled since joining in the summer, but was thrown into action against Dortmund in the Champions League last night.
He looked much better in those circumstances, and the guest posited that this was down to the “slower pace” of European competition suiting him better.
🗣️ @CFCCouchCritic on Koulibaly’s performance:
“He’s struggled with the pace of the Premier League. The Champions League — although it’s a tougher competition — it’s played at a slower pace which gave him an opportunity to find his feet again.”
🎙️ https://t.co/Yde1Zq7h6q pic.twitter.com/WWXH9pQ5Sq
— London Is Blue Podcast ⭐️⭐️ (@LondonBluePod) February 16, 2023
It’s an interesting point, and one that seemed to be carried out by his much improved showing yesterday.
We do slightly doubt the logic however – nobody who watched last night’s game could argue it was at a “slower pace”. In fact, it was so open and so hectic that it really played into Chelsea’s hands, allowing their plethora of attacking players to get on the ball in space.
The later rounds (if we make it) are likely to be much tighter and played in a more typical European fashion, so we will see if the logic holds up then.
