Pundits have once again been honing in on the performance of winger Mykhailo Mudryk at Chelsea, who is often drawn out for criticism due to the fee he cost and how he has yet to really make his mark and nail down his place at the club.
Mudryk has come under scrutiny a lot since he joined the club well over a year ago now, but recently he has been showing a bit more what he can do with some decent performances.
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I don’t think he was poor against Burnley yesterday by any means, but he certainly wasn’t good either. He had some good moments and some bad moments but failed to really effect the game in a positive way after being handed a rare start.
This has drawn criticism once again from ESPN pundits after the 2-2 draw with Burnley yesterday, and it’s got them asking again, ‘what does Mykhailo Mudryk do?’
Steve Nicol: "What does Mykhailo Mudryk do?"
Shaka Hislop: "Given this performance, if you just look at Mudryk [yesterday] and ask the question, 'What does he really do well', a neutral observer can't give you an answer."
(@ESPNFC)
— Chels HQ (@Chels_HQ) March 31, 2024
He runs real fast.
That’s it! That’s the only thing he does well with any reliability.
His touch lets him down regularly, especially when he tries to move at pace.
He frequently chooses the wrong pass and then doubles down on his mistake by playing a poor ball.
He’s got a novice’s concept of how to move off the ball and appears not to understand basic concepts of space—how to create it and how to attack it.
And all this means that his marginal upside (which is truly spectacular when it emerges in lightning quick acceleration) is all too often outweighed by his obvious and very consistent downside. For example, he led them team in progressive carries against Burnley, but also had the lowest pass completion rate (by far) at 59.6%. He FAILED TO COMPLETE 21 PASSES! Some of those were high risk high reward balls that we want him attempting, but even if you grant him that benefit of the doubt (as we would a playmaker like Palmer, who completed the next lowest at 72.4%), he’s still well below where he needs to be as a starter in the Premier League.