ESPN pundit Stewart Robson feels Mykhailo Mudryk is too inconsistent and is “more than likely to make mistakes.”
Despite scoring in the 3-2 win against Leeds in the FA Cup and being voted Chelsea’s man of the match Mudryk found himself back on the bench for Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Brentford as Mauricio Pochettino switched to a back three system.
The Ukrainian was thrown on from the bench to try and help Chelsea rescue a point but didn’t have a huge impact on the game.
The 23 year old has endured a difficult time since arriving at Stamford Bridge and has struggled for consistency but hasn’t been given a lot of opportunities to show what he can do.
Robson feels that Mudryk and his team mates who currently sit 11th in the Premier League have been too inconsistent.
Speaking on ESPN FC the former Arsenal player said: “If you pick somebody like Mudryk, he’s an example of a Chelsea player who’s inconsistent.”
“He’s got great pace, he can go past people, but when you watch him play, he’s more likely to make mistakes and you could say that about a lot of the Chelsea players.”
Mudryk has made 28 appearances across all competitions this season and has scored five goals and provided three assists.
The winger will be hoping for another chance to impress when Newcastle visit Stamford Bridge next Monday night in a crucial game in the race for European football.
I don’t think all hope is lost with Mudryk, but Robson is obviously right. Mudryk is an incredibly raw talent, but he’s years behind his peers in terms of football IQ. In addition, his touch has not caught up to his prodigious acceleration and pace. For these reasons, playing him in the middle is the WORST possible fit for him because it demands the player take in everything that’s happening in 360 degrees, make split second decisions and have the technical ability to execute all of this in tight spaces. Not a good fit for Mudryk!
Despite his lack of understanding of how (and when) to move without the ball on the wing, at least it’s a position that allows him to focus on only 180 degrees of vision and frequently provides him with the space to take an occasional heavy touch without it leading to a really bad turnover for the team. All that said, I think he’d be better off on the right instead of the left, where Poch has deployed him as an inverted wing. On the left he’s far too inclined to try and cut inside and into traffic where his pace is nullified and his touch lets him down. On the right he’d be far more likely to stay wide (where he’d still get plenty of 1 v 1s and could attack the space behind his defender looking to get to the end line and then provide service into the box.