A win over Liverpool at the weekend was great for Chelsea’s morale, and lots of player did really well.
Moises Caiedo, Reece James, Marc Cucurella – the list of Blues who did well is long.
But it wasn’t all easy – striker Joao Pedro was anonymous once again. FotMob gave him a 6.2 rating, the lowest on the team. He managed just one shot – blocked before it even reached the box. He had 17 touches, not nearly enough even for a player leading the line.
Joao Pedro gets much needed break to regain his form
In a way, the good news is that he came off after 74 minutes. That gave him a little break, and the fact he’s not been called up for Brazil in this international break (thank you, Carlo Ancelotti) means he now finally gets a much needed break from action to recover physically.
Poor JP has been carrying various minor injuries and looks tired too. Hopefully a solid rest now will see him back to his best – although the real solution is likely tactical.
Tactical solution to getting striker into form
Despite being built like a number 9 and being a menace at corners, the Brazil man is actually more of a between the lines player who will look better with a striker to play off.
As you can see from his stats, he’s not getting enough shots away at the moment:
|
Metric /90 minutes
|
Value
|
|---|---|
|
Goals
|
0.31
|
|
Expected Goals (xG)
|
0.24
|
|
xG on Target (xGOT)
|
0.30
|
|
Non-Penalty xG
|
0.24
|
|
Shots
|
1.54
|
|
Shots on Target
|
0.46
|
Meanwhile he’s way up there in terms of assists and passes for his position. All of this should look a lot better when Liam Delap is back in November (not that far away now) and JP has a partner to play off up top.
All Chelsea players need a kick up the arse and a slap, how can they play so badly all season then against Liverpool a different team turns up, a will to win a game plan you name it ,it was there, the atmosphere in the ground was great for once, if only this bunch could be more consistant.
@Blue Paul, great submission, where there is a will, there is always a way.